Kundrathur

Kundrathur குன்றத்தூர்
—  town  —
A view of the temple mandap at foot hill along with steps
Kundrathur Location in Chennai, India
Coordinates: 12.9974°N 80.0966°E / 12.9974; 80.0966
Country	India
State	Tamil Nadu
District	Kancheepuram
Metro	Chennai
Population (2001)
• Total	25,028
Languages
• Official	Tamil
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	600069

Kundrathur is a suburb of the city of Chennai, Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Famous Kundrathur Murugan Temple is located in this town. The town also has a college, Madha Engineering College which is ranked 14th in Chennai. This is an upcoming neighborhood of Chennai Suburban area, people from places like Mylapore, Mambalam and Nanganallur are seen migrating here. It is also a lesser known fact that Kundrathur is home to Navagraha Temples of Chennai / Thondai Naadu.

History

Tamil Poet Sekkizhar was born here and his birthplace was made into a Temple. He was the chief minister of Kulothuga Chozha II alias Anabaya. He withdrew from the ministry and wrote Periapuranam. His young brother Palaravayar dug a water tank near his residence, which is now called ‘’Palaravayar Kulam’’.^{[citation needed]}

Demographics

As of 2001 India census, Kundrathur had a population of 25,028. Males constitute 50% of the population and females 50%. Kundrathur has an average literacy rate of 72% (national average is 59.5%) male literacy is 79%, and female literacy is 64%. In Kundrathur, 11% of the population is under 6 years of age. A lot of working population is migrating to this place as this is close to two of the major work hubs Viz Sriperumbudur & Thirumudivakkam ( Industrial Belt ) and Porur ( IT Hub).

Localities

Saravana Nagar, Arunachaleshwar Nagar, Mehta Nagar, Santhosh Avenue, Manigandan Nagar, Sambandam Nagar, MM Avenue& Devaki Nagar are three upcoming localities in Kundrathur. Raja Ganapathi Nagar and Aiswaryam Nagar are also getting new constructions done. Other upcoming localities are Guruvayoorappan Nagar, Jayalakshmi Nagar and Seven Hills Nagar.

Temple

Kundrathur Murugan Temple

This is a famous temple situated on top of a hillock dedicated to Lord Murugan. This is the only Murugan temple in Tamil Nadu where the God is standing in a north facing direction. This temple was constructed by King Kulothunga Chola - II. The speciality of this temple is that Lord Subramaniar can be seen only with one Goddess at a time even though he is there along with both the Goddesses. The karthigai deepam festival celebration is famous here.

Sri Kamakshi Sametha Nageshwarar Temple

Sri Kamakshi Sametha Nageshwarar is the presiding deity here. The Nagabharanam around the lingam is considered Ragu here. This temple is also called vada thirunageshwaram. The temple also houses Kasi Viswanathar, Arunachaleshwarar in the inner praharam and in the outer praharam there is a temple for Lord Saneeswaran. This temple is also considered as one of Navakailasam's in Tamil Nadu.

Sri Nagaimukavalli Sametha Kandazheeswarar Temple

Surya prayed to Lord Shiva to get his power revived and hence the name. The Lord is seen as a huge Lingam and Goddess is seen facing South with the left foot forward, indicating that this temple is a parihara sthalam. Also the fact that the base of the shiva lingam is square in shape indicates the same. The unique feature of the temple gopuram is that it looks like an elephant's back which is seen in Kulothunga chozan architecture. The uniqueness of this temple is that Lord Bhairavar is seen in all three forms Gnana Bhairavar, Aghora Bhairavar and Swarna Akarshna Bhairavar.

Sri Thiru-Uraga Perumal Temple

Thiru-Uraga Perumal and Thiru Iruntha Valli: A Temple of Kulothunga Chozan Period dedicated to Lord Vishnu and his consort. The lord is seen in the standing posture. In the road towards the Murugan temple, this temple is located just about 100 meters before the Murugan temple. The main deity, Thiru-Uraga Perumal, is seven feet tall and the thayar, Thiruvirundhavalli Thayar are usually very well decorated. The remains of a pillared mandapam spoke of a grand edifice built probably during Kulothunga or Karikala Chozhan’s period. The inscriptions found inside the temple indicate that this was well patronized during the reign of the Vijayanagar dynasty also. A very recent inscription was interesting. It recorded verses on the deity that had appeared in the dreams of a local Tamil teacher which when recited gave the area copious rain!

Sree Ponniamman Temple

This temple is situated about 600 mtrs. to the North of Thirunageswaram Sivan Temple. The main deity is Chandi called Ponniamman a goddess with a 'Soolam' - 3 forked spear. This goddess is worshiped as family deity (Kula Deivam - each family in Hindus has one) by many families in and around Kundrathur. Adjacent to the temple there is pond belonging to Ponniamman Temple of about 1 acre area fenced with grills. Every year 'Theppothsavam' (Float Festival) is conducted. Paal Kudam - carrying milk in silver or brass pots overhead around the village from Thirunageswaram Sivan Temple to Sri Ponniamman Temple is also celebrated in grand manner every year.

Navagraha Temples in and Around Kundrathur

• Kolapakkam- Suryan- Agastheeswarar Kovil
• Somangalam -Chandran -Somanaadeshwarar Kovil
• Poonamallee-Sevvai- Vaitheeswaran Kovil
• Gerugambakkam - Kethu- Neelakanteswar
• Porur - Guru - Ramanaadeshwarar
• Mangadu - Sukran - Velliswarar
• Kovur - Budhan - Sundreswarar
• Kundrathur - Raghu -Thirunageshwarar
• Pozhichalur - Saneeswarar - Agastheeswarar

Other Temples here would be:

• Sri Vembuliamman Temple
• Sri Amaratheeswarar Temple at Sirukalathur
• Sri Balambika Samedha Valeeswarar Temple on Natham Road
• Sri Ramanatheswarar temple at Sirukalathur
• Angala Paremeshwari Temple
• Boopala Vinayagar Temple
• Prasanna Venkatesa Perumal Temple
• Devi Mookambigai Temple
• Siddhi Buddhi Sametha Vinayagar Temple
• Kathyayani Amman Temple
• Balambiga Sametha Sadaiyandeeswarar Temple

A view of the temple steps - another view

Murugan Temple @ Kundrathur

Front View of Thiru Nageshwaram Temple

Popular personality of Kundrathur

1. Sekkizhar, a poet and the chief minister in the court of King Kulothunga Chola II and compiler of Periya Puranam, the life stories of the sixty-three Shaiva Nayanmars, the poets of Shiva who composed the liturgical poems of the Tirumurai, hailed from this town.
2. Mr. T.M.Anbarasan, Ex-Minister of the Department of Labour of the state of Tamil Nadu.
3. Dr. J.Krishnamoorthy, Renowned Siddha doctor, recipient of Padmashree Award.
4. Mr. Palani Swaminathan who has done many social welfare for the betterment of Kundrathur

Schools

• Mukkula Nammalvar Chetty Vivekananda Vidyalaya in Sambandam Nagar.
• Little Flower Matriculation Higher Secondary School in the Sambandam Nagar Locality.
• Sivanthi School is in Mehta Nagar locality.
• Madha Matriculation Higher Secondary School
• State run 45 yrs old Sekkizhar Government Higher Secondary School (Resides at Kollacheri) and Government Girls Higher Secondary School.
• Annai Pooranam Nursery and Primary school, Duraisamy Street, Kundrathur.

Colleges

• Madha Group of Educational Institutions, Kundrathur Main Road, Kundrathur
• Madha Medical College and Hospital, Thandalam-Kovur, near Kundrathur
• Madha College of Physiotherapy in Somamangalam
• Chennai Institute of Technology, Andarkuppam, Kundrathur
• St.Joseph College of Arts and Science, Kovur

Parks

Sekkizhar Park and Sambandam Nagar Park are the two parks in the locality.

Hospitals & Pharmacy

• Sri Lakshmi Child Care Center, Kundrathur
• Ayyappa Clinic, Kundrathur
• Smile Dental Clinic, Kundrathur
• Government Primary Health center (Upgraded), Kundrathur
• Madha Medical College & Hospital, Thandalam-Kovur
• Kanaga Hospital, Kovur
• St. Thomas Hospital, Madanandapuram
• Apollo Pharmacy operates 24 hours in Kundrathur.