Sri Hrudayaaleeswarar Sivan temple is a Hindu temple, located at Thirunindravur, Chennai, India. This Temple is mukti place of Pusalar Nayanmar. There is not a place to sit and meditate. You can go into meditative states here effortlessly. The statue of Pusalar is inside the shrine next to the Lingam.
How to get there:
The temple is located 33 kms North of Chennai International Airport.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/YcktJ4A5zGuswqGp7
About Pusalar Nayanar
Pusalar was a Brahmin of Tiru Ninravur in Thondai Mandalam. He excelled in the mental worship of the Lord. Mental worship is thousands of times better than external ritualistic worship: mental worship soon leads to Samadhi (superconscious state) and Self-realisation. He strongly desired to build a temple for Lord Siva, but he did not have the money for it. So, mentally he gathered the necessary materials for the purpose. He laid the foundation stone on an auspicious day. He raised the temple and had even fixed an auspicious day for the installation of the deity in it.
The Kadava king who was also a great devotee of Lord Siva had built a magnificent temple in Conjeevaram. By chance he had also fixed the date which Pusalar had mentally chosen, for the installation of the Lord in his temple. The Lord wanted to show the king the superiority of Pusalar’s great devotion. So, the Lord appeared in the king’s dream and asked him to postpone the installation ceremony in his temple, as He would be going to the temple constructed by His devotee at Tiru Ninravur. The king woke up from sleep and was intensely eager to have the Darshan of the devotee mentioned by the Lord and also have a look at the great temple he had built, which he thought would be far superior to his temple.
The king came to Tiruninravur and searched all over the place for the temple: he could not find any. Then the king enquired about Pusalar. He found out Pusalar’s house and approached him. Pusalar was stunned when he heard of the king’s dream. Soon, he recovered and was filled with joy. He thought: ‘How kind and merciful is the Lord. I am only a wretched creature and He has accepted my mental shrine as His Abode. I am really blessed.’ He told the king that that temple was only in his mind. The king was greatly surprised to hear this. Admiring Pulasar’s devotion, the king fell at his feet and worshipped him. Pulasar installed the Lord in his mental temple and continued to worship Him till he attained His Abode.
About Sri Hrudayaaleeswarar Sivan Temple
Thirunindravur once saw the outpour of devotion of a devout heart as well as the reciprocated grace as a result of the intense devotion. Poosalaar, was a poor man in terms of material wealth but rich in dedicated devotion towards Lord Shiva. His heart brimmed with love and devotion for the Lord. He was called Poosalaar as his body was always smeared with the sacred ash, (Tamil-Poosu-Apply). Bhagavan Ramana says that the right kind of desire on the spiritual path will condition an aspirant to become one with the divine ultimately. Poosalaar was not an exception to this and he yearned to erect a beautiful temple for his heart’s favourite. However he became the object of people’s ridicule for his herculean desire in his impoverished condition.
Poosalaar however was not deterred by the words of the people. His heart was large enough to house Shiva’s temple and his love served to implement the task with ease. Meanwhile, Rajasimha Pallava, the King of Kanchi had undertaken the task of erecting a temple for Lord Shiva. On the completion of the task, the king wanted it to be named Rajasimeswaram and duly consecrated. Hence the king fixed a date for the consecration. The day before the assigned date the king’s heart was brimming with pride of having erected a beautiful temple for the Lord as his eyes shut with his thoughts vanishing into his sleep. The Lord appeared in his dream and stated that He will not be able make present Himself in the consecration ceremony as He will be present in the consecration ceremony of another temple built by an ardent devotee, Poosalaar. Hence the king was asked by the Lord to choose another date to have Him installed ceremoniously on another day in the temple built by him.
The surprised king immediately commanded the culmination of the ceremonies associated with the temple consecration and proceeded to check out on the temple of Poosalaar. Coming to know that Poosalaar lived in a nearby town he set out towards Thirunindravur. The king was perplexed on the results of his enquiry that Poosalaar lived in poverty and there was not a sign of a new temple being erected in Thirunindravur. Counting on the Lord’s words, the King sought to meet Poosalaar who was meditating under a tree. The king approached Poosalaar and stated the purpose of his visit. Poosalaar replied with joy to have a look at the ceremonious installation of Lord Shiva in the temple that he had built. Lo and Behold! The king witnessed the consecration ceremony of the temple built by Poosalaar within the heart of Poosalaar, with the chanting of the Vedas and other ceremonial activities!
It was then that the king realized that the poor devotee had visualized his desire stage by stage within his heart, surrendering his will and wish to his beloved Lord. The pure devotion and the unconditional love for the Lord had led the almighty to be enshrined in his heart forever. The king then materialized the temple that Poosalaar had built in the cavern of his heart before having the temple built by him duly consecrated. He called the deity ‘Hrudayaaleeswarar’, the one who abides in the heart. Poosalaar is one of the sixty three Nayanmars stated in the Periyapuranam.
Source:
https://www.dlshq.org/download/sixty-three-nayanar-saints/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hridayaleeswarar_Temple
