Velleeswarar Temple, Mangadu

Velleeswarar Temple is a two-acre Shiva temple in Mangadu, a suburb of Chennai, roughly 2 km from the Kamakshi Amman Temple. With that shrine and the Vaikunda Perumal Temple it is among Mangadu's three main temples. Legend says the goddess did penance here, but on finding Sukra, the planet Venus, at worship before Shiva she withdrew so as not to disturb him, and Shiva later married her at Kanchipuram. Sukra is Velli in Tamil, which gives the god his name. The temple is the Sukra shrine among the Navagraha temples around Chennai, and Fridays are the special day here; devotees offer white field beans.

The east-facing main shrine holds a six-foot lingam on a square base. In the inner hall, Ganesha holds a mango instead of a sweet and is called Mangani Vinayagar; Mangadu itself is named after the mango forest that once stood here. Subramanya and his two consorts share a single stone, and Veerabhadra, Kasi Viswanatha and Sundaresa have shrines of their own.