Nandeeswarar temple is one of those temples in this original locality belonging to the Hindus. Some even claim that Lord Shiva appeared in the form of Nandi (holy bull) to Bringi in this site.

 

The east facing ancient temple is a small one without a tower and flag post. A small Nandi and bali peeth face the main shrine. The Shiva Linga idol (Nandeeswarar) is big however the idol of Avudai Nayaki, the Goddess, which is located in a separate south facing shrine is not very attractive. The temple has just one prakara. In the parakara the sub shrines of Sundara Vinayaka, Subramanya with his two consorts and Navagraha are found. Inside the maha mandapa the idol of Ganesha, Surya and Bhairava are located. Near the entrance of the main shrine the idols of Ganesha and Subramanya are found. The wall surrounding the main shrine has the small Goshta images of Nardana Ganapati, Dakshinamurty, Vishnu, Durga and Brahma. The idol of Chandikeshwara is found to be big and of ancient period.

 

Christians have it that since Tamils used to call Foreigners as ‘Parangi, the name Parangi Malai came into use.

 

The fact is that Thomas did not come to India ,much less was murdered by Hindu Brahmins.

 

The church is built on the foundations of a Hindu temple, though Ponnu Elizabeth Mathew neglected to mention this fact. The church contains on its altar reredos a famous “bleeding” stone cross said to have been carved by St. Thomas. That St. Thomas has never been described anywhere as a stone cutter seems to have escaped the writer’s notice, as does the old Palhavi inscription on the carving’s border which identifies it to be of Persian origin. It has been dated to the 8th Century by experts, as have other “St. Thomas” crosses found in Kerala churches. Crosses were not used by Christians to identify their religion until long after the Council of Nicea in the 4th Century, probably not until the 7th Century.

Another item of interest the article brought to the reader’s attention is the icon of the Virgin Mary, allegedly painted by St. Luke and brought to India by St. Thomas. There are seven of these icons by “St. Luke” distributed around the world, the most famous one being in Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica at Rome. All of them are medieval productions, and the idea that they could be associated with either St. Luke or St. Thomas is absurd. Both 1st Century apostles were practicing Jews and fierce iconoclasts. The cult of the Virgin Mary, like the cult of the cross, is a late development in the evolution of Christian religion. The protagonists of the St. Thomas tale always forget to put all the accoutrements and accretions of the apostle’s Portuguese legend into a 1st century context…

“The allegation that St. Thomas converted a Mylapore king to Christianity and was then murdered is deeply offensive to Hindus as it implicates Hindus in the assassination of an important Christian saint. The true martyrs of the whole affair were the Hindus who lost their ancient Kapaleeswara temple on the beach when the Portuguese destroyed Mylapore. The Vatican has stated in a letter to me that the question of whether or not St. Thomas came to India is one for historians to decide.”[2]

This letter was published in The New Indian Express on 16 July 2004, after a reminder had been sent to the managing editor. He and his chief, blind and stubborn as they are about the implications of spreading the St. Thomas tale, did not want to know anything more about it.

Source:

http://apostlethomasindia.wordpress.com/2011/12/21/did-a-hindu-king-kill-st-thomas-ishwar-sharan/