THIRUVOTRIYUR - KALIA NAYANAR
Dear Readers, I recently visited one of the oldest temple in Chennai. The temple is believed to be atleast 1300 years old. Lord Shiva is the principal deity worshipped as Adipureeswarar and Tyagarajar. The Goddess Tripura Sundari or Vadivudai Amman is popular than the Lord of Thiruvotriyur. Thiruvotriyur is also happened to be the birth place of Kalia Nayanar who is one of the Sixty Three Nayanmar. Hence I thought of sharing the details of both i.e. Thiruvotriyur Temple and also about Kalia Nayanar in this article. The article is being published as part of both the “Temple Visit” and “Sacred Sixty Three” series of articles. The temple is fraught with many legends and a visit to this temple make you travel centuries back. The temple was visited by many saints right from Adisankara, Thirugnana Sambandar, Thirunavaukkarasar, Sundarar, Arunagirinathar, Pattinathar, Saint Tyagaraja to name a few. The 27 Stars are believed to have worshipped the Lord and assumed the form of Linga by the grac