Kapaleeswarar Temple, Tamil Nadu
Shri Kapaleeswarar Temple is a majestic piece of exciting architecture located in the city earlier called Madras, now Chennai. It is exactly situated in Mylapore and was built during the reign of the Pallavas in 7th Century CE. The place is seamlessly connected with the grand metropolitan city and is at a distance of about 15 km from Koyambedu. The Lord named Shri Kapaleeshwar (incomplete name) resides in the magnificent temple which is one of the 276 Devara Paadal Petra Shiva Sthalam. It is convincingly believed by the masses of the local community that the almighty Lord Shiva is self-manifested in this fantastic Temple. Interestingly, it is a place worthy of your visit being the most popular Sapthasthana temples in Chennai. The Kapaleeswarar temple is also known to be the birthplace of Vayilar Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars.
The beauty of the grand temple can be witnessed with the 70 ft main building which also includes two corridors surrounding the east. If you delve deeper into the history, this is one of the places from where Goddess Parvati took the form of a peacock to worship Lord Shankar. It is also a fact worth your attention that this is a newly built temple because of the original temple being submerged into the sea. Presently visited temple is approximately 3 1/2 centuries old. Kapaleeswaram has a long story involving its name where the term Kapala meaning came into the picture. It is believed that Lord Krishna brought down one of the heads of Lord Brahma.
Timings
Kapaleeswarar Temple open at 06:00 AM to 01:00 PM and then again 04:00 PM to 08:00 PM