Unamancheri Kodandarama Swamy & Two headed Hanuman temple

Unamancheri Kodandarama Swamy & Two headed Hanuman temple

Sri Kothanda Ramaswami Temple is at Unamancheri in Chengalpattu district and around 10 kms from Tambaram.
The Presiding Deity of this Temple is Lord Kodandarama and he blesses his Devotees along with his consort Sita.

The small east-facing temple enshrines Ram and all his three brothers in the sanctum. Although it is not rare, finding all four brothers together in a single shrine is not common. Rama is found in the form of Kodanda Rama. Rama has Sita on his right side and his brother Lakshman on his true left side. Bharat and Shatrughna are found in either corner with their hands folded and placed towards their chest (namaskar posture).

In the sanctum, Hanuman is also found. He is found at a corner and faces Rama. Interestingly, he has two heads. While his front-side head faces his deity, his backside head faces the devotees.

Achyuta Varma Raya of the Vijayanagar Dynasty was lame and he was told in a dream by Lord Vishnu to create a Pushkarini and build the temple for Kothandarama here at Unamancheri. He saw the main deity when he arrived and built up the temple. Bathing in the Pushkarini behind he worshiped the Lord and got relieved of his physical defect. Thus the name of the village came to be known as Unam Maaikkum Cholai which later got corrupted to its present name of Unamancheri.

Kodanda Rama Temple of Unamancheri was built by Achyuta Raya, the brother of the famous Krishnadeva Raya of Vijayanagar Kingdom, in the 16th century CE.