Ashtalakshmi Temple, Chennai

Ashtalakshmi Kovil

Temple tower during Diwali

The Ashtalakshmi Kovil is an Hindu temple, which lies on the shorelines near the Elliot's beach, in Chennai, India. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Lakshmi, who, according to the Hindu mythology, is the giver all eight forms of wealth, namely, offspring, success, prosperity, wealth, courage, bravery, food, and knowledge. The sanctorums are depicted on a multi-tier complex in such a way that visitors could visit all the shrines without stepping over any of the sanctorums. The temple was constructed on the wishes of Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati swamigal of Kanchi Mutt.

In this temple the eight forms of Goddess Lakshmi are present in four levels. The shrine of Mahalakshmi and Mahavishnu is in level two. One starts the worship from here. One can take the stairs and the path leads to third floor which has the shrines of Santhanalakshmi, Vijayalakshmi, Vidyalakshmi and Gajalakshmi. Then again take a few steps and we reach the shrrine of DhanaLakshmi, which is the only shrine on the fourth floor. Exiting the main shrine, in the first level, there are shrines for Aadilakshmi, Dhaanya lakshmi and Dharyalakshmi. The temple also has Dasavathara's(10 incarnations of Vishnu), Guruvayoorapan, Ganapati, Dhanwanthari and Anjaneyar deities.

Renovation

At 2012, the temple was renovated at the cost of ₹ 7 million. Another ₹ 1.6 million was spent on conducting the Jeernotharana Ashtabandana mahakumbhabhishekam, a Hindu ceremony. A total of 32 kalasams were newly laid in the temple, including a gold-plated 5.5-foot-high kalasam atop the sanctum sanctorum.