Madurantakam Temple is a beautiful shrine, situated about 50 km from
Chennai on the Grand Southern Trunk road leading to
Tiruchirapalli, in
Tamil Nadu. The temple is dedicated to
Lord Ram,
Sita and
Lakshman.
Most noteworthy feature of the temple is that Lord Hanuman is absent here. It is believed that, Hanuman did not accompany Sri Ram here as he was away to inform Bharat about the arrival of Sri Rama.
Hanuman has a separate shrine on the bank of the tank.
The
Utsava Murti of Lord Ram and Karunakara Perumal (Lord Vishnu with Sree Devi and Bhoo Devi) are also installed in the temple. It is believed that Lord Ram himself has worshipped the Utsava Murti at Madurantakam, which was then known as ‘Vaghularanyam’.
Other deities worshipped here include Goddess Lakshmi, Narasimha, Udayavar, Peria Nambi, Vishwaksena, Vedantadesikar, Alwars and Andal.
Ram Navami, celebrated here for 10 days in the month of Panguni (March-April), is a major draw. Brahmotsavam, celebrated in the month of 'Ani' (June-July), draws thousands of devotees from far and near.