Tiruvalithayam Tiruvallesvarar Temple

The Tiruvalithayam Tiruvallesvarar Temple is a Shiva temple in Padi, in north-western Chennai, about 2.2 kilometres from Korattur railway station. Shiva is worshipped as Thiruvalleswar, with Parvati as Jagathambikai, and the temple is praised in the 7th-century Tevaram. Legend says the sage Bharadwaja worshipped the god in the form of a valiyan, a sparrow, which gave the place the name Valithayam; Rama, Hanuman, Surya, Chandra and Indra are also said to have prayed here.

The oldest parts of the present building are 11th-century Chola work, and 14 Chola inscriptions record gifts of jewels, lamps, food and gold; under Rajaraja III a devotee of the Eastern Chalukyas gave two houses and two gardens. The temple has a three-tiered gopuram, two precincts and many halls, with the shrines of Tiruvalleswarar and Jagadambiga the most important. Four daily rituals and five festivals a year are held, the Brahmotsavam in Chittirai being the biggest.