Mahaperiyavar at IIT Madras, 1966
Visiting VIPs
Mahaperiyavar or ‘The Great Elder’ was the 68th head of the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, a Hindu institution located in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. His name was Kanchi Kamakoti Peethadhipathi Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Swamiji. He visited the Jalakanteshwara Temple at IIT Madras in 1966.
During his visit, Mahaperiyavar reportedly conducted pujas to Sri Varasidhdhi Vinayaka and Sri Adipureeshwara at the Varasidhdhi Vinayaka Temple which is located behind the current Taramani Guest House.
According to an article, a Shiva lingam was kept under a mandapam with a thatched roof near the IIT Madras lake, long before the establishment of the Institute. Village residents worshiped this idol regularly. When the Institute was being set up, IIT Madras residents approached Mahaperiyavar in order to get advice regarding how to continue worship of the lingam. Reportedly, he instructed the residents to construct a temple and continue worship. Mahaperiyavar also said that the idol had been worshiped as Jalakanteshwara by the scholar Appaya Deekshitar and it continued to be worshiped as the same deity when Jalakanteshwara Temple at IIT Madras was built.
According to information provided by the Controller of the Raj Bhavan, the precincts of the temple once formed a route from an ancient place of worship in present day Velachery (it was known as Vedashreni) to Thiruvanmiyur. It was apparently frequented by great saints, one of whom was Appaya Deekshitar. It is said that his 60th birthday (Shastiabdapurthi) was celebrated at the temple where the lingam originally was placed.
Seen in the photograph, Mahaperiyavar (with cloth draped over head), Prof. R. Krishnamurthi (Head of Humanities Department, to Mahaperiyavar’s left hand side) and Mr. Y. S. Ramaswamy (Superintending Engineer, extreme left).
- Contribute
to the Centre -
Monetary
Support 
Digital
Material
