PANDYA NAYAKA SHRINA

The Pandya Nayaka shrine is the temple for Shiva's second son Murugan or Subrahmanya within the Chidambaram temple complex. It is situated in the north-west corner of the complex, as one of the secondary shrines of the 4th prakara. It is called Pandya Nayaka because according to the tradition it was build by king Sundara Pandya of the (so called 'later') Pandya dynasty from Madurai. Around 1252 this king marched against the Cholas and conquered all their land. He worshipped in Chidambaram and performed several royal rituals there.

In the photo the temple is much damaged, but it has since been renovated. It is of interest that in the 18th century this same shrine was renovated partly with contributions from Dutch merchants stationed in Porto Novo. Porto Novo is a village near Chidambaram on the coast which was in the 17th and 18th century a trading post for the Dutch VOC.

This photo has actually been published earlier. In Heilige Statten Indiens by Helmuth von Glasenapp (Munchen 1928).