Kandha Kottam Sri Muthukumaraswamy

 Chennapatnam of British yore is 300+ years old but the villages that constitute the present day Chennai aka Madras existed with glory centuries before too. 

In what is commonly known as Parrys area, there is the Pookkadai [flower bazaar] nearer Kothawalchavadi [once the vegetable hub] – and it was from here vegetable would be bought as it would be cheaper when bought in bulk quantities.  On one side is Sowcarpet touted as little North India, an old neighbourhood, having age old buildings and marriage halls in narrow bylanes.  Have read that trams used to ply in NSC Bose road in those days when it was known as Chinna bazaar [there is also the Rattan bazaar, Evening bazaar, Burma bazaar]  It was the hub of many activities – besides the mofussil bus stand, there was the Kothawalchavadi, the vegetable market; flower market at Badrian street, clothes at Godown Street, dry fruits and pulses at Govindappa Naick st, Devaraja mudali St for turmeric, kumkum, glasses, essences and perfumes; many jewellers nearer those twin pagodas of Chenna Kesava Perumal Kovil and Chenna Mallesswarar temple – Sri PrasannaVenkateswarar temple [famously Bairagi Mutt]; Kanda Kottam and more. Sowcar comes from the Hindi word sahukaar, meaning merchant or banker. A couple of centuries ago, this place flourished with diamond, pearl trade too.

 

There are many century old temples in this area.  Sri Muthukumaraswamy Devasthanam popularly Kandaswamy temple or KandaKottam lies just a furlong and half from the Madras Central Railway Station.  The temple’s history dates back to many centuries. In the seventeenth century there were two ardent devotees of Lord Muruga - Thiru Mari Chetty and Thiru Kandapandaram, who used to visit Thiruporur Sri Kandaswamy Temple and guided by divine interference, this temple at Sowcarpet was constructed by the Maari Chettiar in the 1670s.   It has seen many renovations, and has a big temple tank  called  'Saravana Poigai.'  According to the stone inscriptions in the temple, the moolavar vigraham (main idol) of Murugan in this temple was discovered and brought from a tank bund near Thiru porur Sri Kandha Swāmi Temple. 

 

பாதி மதி நதி போதும் அணிசடை நாதரருளிய – குமரேசா

பாகு கனிமொழி மாது குறமகள் பாதம் வருடிய – மணவாளா

காதுமொருவிழி காகமுற அருள் மாயன் அரி திரு – மருகோனே

காலனெனை அணுகாமல் உனதிரு காலில் வழிபட – அருள்வாயே

 

யமன் என்னை அணுகாதபடி என்னை உனது காலை வழிபடும் படியான புத்தியை அருள் புரிவாயாக என வேண்டுகிறார் அருணகிரிநாதர் முருகனை வேண்டுகிறார்.

 

Here are some photos of Sri Muthukumaraswami taken during his thiruveethi  purappadu on 1.1.2025

 
Regards S Sampathkumar
2.1.2025