Kalikaambaal Temple

Overview

The Kalikambal Temple is located in George Town and is dedicated to Kalikambal (Kamakshi) and Kamateswarar. The temple is located in Thambu Chetty Street, George Town a prominent financial centre of Chennai, India. There is a Goshala (the place where cows are taken care of ) inside the temple.

About the temple

There are shrines dedicated to Nagaraja, Virat Viswa ParaBrahma. Gayathri Devi, Durga inside the temple. In the South western part of the temple God Annamalayar poses with his divine consort Unnamalayar. There is a Kodi Maram where the Bali Peedam and an image of the Lion are present.

There are also icons of five headed serpent installed inside the temple. In the Palliarai of the Goddess, a petite icon of the goddess in silver is placed on a oonjal. Artha jama pooja is performed here. There is a separate enclosure for Navagrahas. A shrine dedicated to Veera Brahma Sankarar who is the kula guru - head of the Viswakarmar is present in the temple. There is also a shrine dedicated to God Kamateswarar. Other deities like Mahavishnu, Kala Bhairavar, Dakshinamurthi, Chandra and Surya find a place in the temple. There are also icons of Ahora Veerabhadra Swamy and Mahakali who wait to give darshan to the devotees. Ahora Veerabhadra Swamy assumes great significance on Pournami day garlanding him with betel leaves. Icons of Kathirgama Murugan with his consorts Valli and Devasena are also part of the celestial congregation. An inner mandapam leads to the east facing shrine to the festival image of Kalikambal, Utsava Periya Nayaki. A flag staff is situated directly across from the sanctum in the western section of the outer prakaram which also features shrines to Ganesha and Subramanyar.

There is a cluster of shrines to Vinayakar, Veerabhadrar and Kali facing south in the northwestern corner of the outer prakaram. There are a few other shrines in the northern portion of the prakaram where the yagasalai is situated. The Kinnitter or the Chariot lined with metal cymbals is unique to this temple and the Kinnitter procession in the month of Vaikasi attracts huge number of devotees from all over the country. It is devoted to the Shaivite Gods - (Kamateshvarar) Shiva and his consort Kamakshi (Kalikambal) in her benign avatar. Originally the Kalikambal temple was situated inside the Fort St. George. During the course of time it has moved to its present venue in George Town.It is also said that the fierce form of Kali was which was worshipped earlier has been replaced with a serene form subsequently. The great Maratha warrior Chatrapathi Shivaji Rao(17th century) along with his trusted Minister was here to worship Kali. The temple has also seen patronage from peoples of various strata of society. Today its patronage has swollen to great numbers. This is one of the few temples where the God and Goddess are placed back to back. It is pretty rare as per temple architecture.

About the Deity

The Kalikambal Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Goddess Kalikambal (Kamakshi) and Lord Kamateswarar.

Legend and stories

Chhatrapati Shivaji was always known to be a devotee of the Goddess Bhavani; one legend has it that the Goddess gifted him the Chandrahas sword. Shivaji was also in the habit of reconnoitering his enemy's fortifications and strength incognito. It is most likely that this habit brought him close to Fort St George 335 years ago this night. Since April of 1677, he had been crisscrossing the country around Madras; in fact, on three occasions, he sent emissaries to Fort St George requesting "cordial stones and counter-poisons" and suchlike things. After a couple of passages humoring him, the British turned down Shivaji's request for English engineers.

Shivaji had at that time gone past Madras to capture Vellore and Gingee. Maybe he kept the refusal in mind when he came back in October, and camped to the north of Fort St George. In the Fort as Governor was Streynsham Master, who had been part of the defence when Shivaji had attacked the Company's factory at Surat in 1670.

Probably recalling his failure to penetrate Master's defenses in Surat, Shivaji was trying to learn more about them. In that quest, he likely came across the Kalikambal temple on what is now Thambu Chetty Street - or maybe the temple was in its 'original' spot, closer to the sea in those times. The portrait in the temple commemorates that visit, of which there is no real record.

Kalikambal, the presiding deity of this temple was originally portrayed in a martial, fearsome form. That was replaced by a more benign representation of the goddess. Shivaji's prayers to her may have resulted in her tempering Shivaji's belligerence into pragmatism; he probably figured out it was not worth the effort trying to sack Fort St George and went quietly back to Raigad. In protecting her favourite son, Goddess Kalikambal also ended up protecting the young city of Madras.

Festivals

On every full moon days and on all navarathri days ,sri chandi homam is performed praying for the welfare of the mankind. Ahora Veerabhadra Swamy assumes great significance on Pournami day- full moon garlanding him with betel leaves is said to nullify the malefic effects of the Navagrahas.

Special Days In Temple

Vasantha navaratri (April-May)
Chitra pournami ( April )
Bramhorchovam in vaikasi month (May -June)
Vasantha utsavam in adi month , Unchal utsavam in Adi Fridays (July-August)
Abishekams in adi Sundays , Adi krithigai to lord muruga ( July-August )
Adi pooram ( July-August ) , Vinayaka chathurdhi (Avani)
Natrajar Arudhra Utsavam (November-December)
Pushpanjali in Thai , Uoonchal Utsavam in thai (January)
Mahudabishekam in thai (January)

Kalai sandhi	6:00 AM To 7:30 AM
Uchi Kalam	12:00 PM
Sayaratchai	5:30 PM To 6:00 PM
Artha jamam	9:00 PM

Accessibility

Air

The nearest airport is Chennai International Airport.

Rail

The two nearest railway stations in this area, namely, Chennai Beach and Chennai Fort.

Road

Nearest bus terminus at Esplanade (Broadway Bus Stand) near Parry's Corner.

Address

Kalikaambaal Temple,
George Town,
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu.