Parthasarathy Temple

Sri Parthasarathy Temple is located at Triplicane, near the famous Chennai Beach, Marina. This temple is an 8th century Hindu Vaishnavite temple dedicated to Lord Krishna.

The Parthasarathy Temple was originally built by the Pallavas in the 8th century and then later renovated by the Cholas and the Vijayanagara kings. One of the distinguishing features is that it contains the deities of the four incarnations or avatars of Vishnu: Narasimha(lion), Rama, Varaha(boar) and Venkata Krishna. It also has a small shrine dedicated to Vedavalli Ammai, Vishnu’s consort.

The shrine of Venkatakrishnan at the Parthasarathy Temple is considered equivalent to that at Tirupati. The deity is seen with his consort Rukmini on his right and his brother Sri Balram on his left. The temple follows the traditions of the Thenkalai sect of Vaishnavite tradition and follows vaikanasa aagama. The temple has grand brahmotsavams for Sri Parthasarathy swami during the Tamil month of chittirai(April-may),on the same month Udayavar uthsavam is also celebrated in special manner.In the month of vaigasi,Sri Varadarajar uthsavam,Sri Nammalwar uthsavam(vaigasi-visagam) and vasanthothsavam are celebrated. Sri Azhagiyasingar during the Tamil month of aani (June-July).There are also grand utsavams for Sri Ramanuja(April-may) and Sri Manavalamamunigal(oct-nov) besides utsavams for Alwar and acharyas. Vaikunta Ekadesi and during the Tamil month of Margazhi draws lot of pilgrims.

According to Hindu mythology, Lord Krishna was the charioteer for Arjuna during the Mahabharata war when he gave the Hindu holy book of Bhagavad Gita. Hence, the main deity, Sri Parthasarathy’s face is full of scars created by the arrows of the Great Bhishma in the Kurukshetra war. Other unusual things about this deity are that He is seen with a moustache and without his weapon Chakra. The reason attributed is that He promised not to take weapons in the Mahabharatha war and hence he has only his conch. As He was the charioteer He sported the moustache keeping with the tradition. The UTSAVAR (the procession deity, usually made of metal instead of stone) also has only a stick and not his mace as found with others. This is because the Lord was born in a cowherd clan.

Among the 12 alwars (the great saints in Vaishnavite tradition) three of them namely Peyalwar, Thirumazhisai alwar and Thirumangai alwar have sung about the deities of this temple.

Enjoy the visit to Sri Parthasarathy Temple in a city trip to Chennai, India !!!