daxinamurthi

[Giridhar]

>The name daxiNAmUrti can be interpreted as the "south-facing Lord". The
>southern direction is considered inauspicious. Hence it's a curious
>direction for a deity to face.

Please note that Nataraja in the Chidambaram temple and Lord
Vishnu in the Srirangam temple also face the southern direction.
The main reason is that southern direction is the direction of
Yama (which is why dead bodies are placed in this direction).
And these dieties help you conquer death by making you
understand that you don't die. A detailed explanation of this can be
found in Kanchi periya's "Acharya's call"

namaste.