Trifter

Chettipunyam might be a small village with just 5-6 streets. However, this small village has become a centre of attraction nowadays thank to Yoga Hayagreevar temple located over here.

Lord Hayagreeva is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. When two demons (asuras) Madhu and Kaidaba stole Vedas from Lord Brahma (the creator of the world as per Hinduism), Lord Vishnu took the form of Hayagreeva (horse face and human body), killed the demons, and handed over the Vedas to Lord Brahma. Hence, Lord Hayagreeva is considered as the God of Knowledge. Yoga Hayagreeva is a rare form of idol which is present in the Yoga Hayagreevar temple in Chettipunyam village.

Chettipunyam village is located at a distance of around 3 km from Singaperumal Koil, near Chennai, in South India. If you take the GST Road from Chennai (the highway connecting Chennai and Trichy), after crossing Singaperumal Koil town, you will find a small road on your right side. You can find the board directing you to Hayagreevar temple. You need to take that small road and travel for around 2 km to reach the temple.

The temple is around 500 years old. The temple orginally belongs to Varadaraja Perumal (a form of Lord Vishnu). In 1868, the idols of Devanatha Swamy and Yoga Hayagreeva were brought from Tiruvahindipuram temple near Cuddalore to this temple. It was done to protect these ancient and popular idols (metal idols – utsav idols) from alient invasion. Since then, this temple was referred either as Yoga Hayagreeva temple or Devanatha Swamy temple. In the recent time, the popularity of this temple has increased as people started bringing their school going children to this temple (as Hayagreeva is considered as the God of Knowledge).

The temple is small. The main shrine consists of Varadaraja Perumal along with Yoga Hayagreeva and Devanatha Swamy. The idol of Varadaraja is found along with his two consorts Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi. There is a separate shrine for Goddess Hemambuja Nayaki. There are also separate shrines for Andal, Alwars, and Garud. In the corrdior surrounding the main shrine (prakara), you can find the idols of Hayagreeva and Nagaraja. There is a big shrine for Lord Rama, where he is found along with Sita, Lakshman, and Hanuman.

Happy travelling.