Kumbakonam Temples

Airavatesvara Temple-Darasuram

   Airavatesvara Temple is a Hindu temple of Dravidian architecture located in the town of Darasuram, near Kumbakonam in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This temple, built by Rajaraja Chola II in the 12th century CE is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur, the Gangaikondacholisvaram Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram that are referred to as the Great Living Chola Temples.

  The Airavatesvara temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Shiva is here known as Airavateshvara, because he was worshipped at this temple by Airavata, the white elephant of the king of the gods, Indra. Legend has it that Airavata, while suffering from a change of colour curse from Sage Durvasa, had its colours restored by bathing in the sacred waters of this temple. This legend is commemorated by an image of Airavata with Indra seated in an inner shrine. The temple and the presiding deity derive its name from this incident.

  It is said that the King of Death, Yama also worshipped Shiva here. Tradition has it Yama, who was suffering under a Rishi's curse from a burning sensation all over the body, was cured by the presiding deity Airavatesvarar. Yama took bath in the sacred tank and got rid of the burning sensation. Since then the tank has been known as Yamateertham.

Palaiyarai is ancient temple city and the Capital of the Cholas.  King Raja Kambeera Mamannan, Raja Raja Chola II (1146 A.D. to 1172 A.D) changed his capital from Gangaikonda Cholapuram to Palaiyarai and renamed it as Raja Raja Puram (at present it is Darasuram).  There were 1000 Thaligal (temples) in palaiyarai .There were 4 padai veedus (Military Camps) on al the four directions of the Capital.  Thalicherippendirgal were appointed by the king to develop fine arts especially music and dance in the temple during festival occasions.  King Raja Raja II constructed in his name a beautiful temple called Raja Rajechuram (at present Airavatheeswara)  in1160 A.D. to 1162 A.D.  This Raja Rajechuram (Raja Rajeschuram – Tharechuram – Darachuram -Darasurm) became Darasuram at present.  It is a world heritage monument protected by UNESCO.

Mythology

            Airavatham is an elephant (white in colour) and is a vehicle of Indra.  It was cursed by sage Durvasa to lose its shining white.  Airavatha came to his temple and got its original colour  after worshipping the Lord.  Hence the deity came to known as Airavatheeswara (the protector or the elephant).

Deities

  The main deity's consort Periya Nayaki Amman temple is a detached temple situated to the north of the Airavateshvarar temple. This might have been a part of the main temple when the outer courts were complete. At present, it stands alone as a detached temple with the shrine of the Goddess standing in a single large court.

Architecture

  This temple is a storehouse of art and architecture and has some exquisite stone carvings. Although this temple is much smaller than the Brihadeesvara Temple or the Gangaikondacholapuram Temple, it is more exquisite in detail. This is because this temple is said to have been built with nitya-vinoda, "perpetual entertainment", in mind.

  

 The vimana (tower) is 24 m (80 ft) high. The south side of the front mandapam is in the form of a huge chariot with large stone wheels drawn by horses.

  To the east of the inner court lies a group of well-carved buildings, one of which is the Balipita ('seat for sacrifice'). The pedestal of the Balipita adjoins a small shrine which contains an image of Ganesha. The pedestal has a set of 3 finely carved set of steps on the south side. Striking the steps produce different musical sounds.

  In the south-west corner of the court is a mandapam having 4 shrines. One of these has an image of Yama. Adjoining this shrine are large stone slabs sculptured with images of the sapthamathas (seven celestial nymphs).

  One of the outstanding aspects of the iconography of the Airāvateśvara, aside from its prodigious richness, is the way in which it is so strongly permeated by literature. There is no representation of the Rāmāyaṇa, as at the temple of Tribhuvanam, but some episodes from the Mahābhārata are present, isolated in the midst of dance scenes. On the pillars of the chariot-maṇḍapa there is a sequence from the Skandapurāṇa depicting the austerities of Pārvatī, her marriage with Śiva and the birth of their son Subrahmaṇya. The narratives of the lives of the Śaiva saints, called the Nāyaṉmār, on a series of small panels at the base of the wall of the sanctuary and of the vestibule, is equally remarkable; it is generally agreed that the 12th-century Periyapurāṇam of Cekkiḻār is the source of inspiration here. Cekkiḻār, however, followed the structure of the 10th-century work by Nambi Aṇḍār Nambi, itself based upon the 7th-century poem by Sundarar; it is difficult to affirm that the Darasuram frieze illustrates Cekkiḻār’s text specifically. Moreover, a number of representations of divinities, such as Bhuvaneśvarī, Mārtaṇḍa Bhairava, Ādi-Caṇḍeśa and Hṛllekhādevī, seem to have been inspired by the Śāradātilaka, an 11th-century work. Another prominent characteristic is the presence of very rare, or even unique, figures, as for example, the Saptanadīs, Mārtaṇḍa Bhairava, Aghora Vīrabhadra, Ādi-Caṇḍeśa, Hṛllekhā and the 108 śivācāryas. We note too, in the iconography of the temple, the pre-eminence of the theme of the dance, as well as the place made for the spiritual masters (ṛṣis, Nāyaṉmār, śivācāryas).

   The presiding deity here is  Airavateeswara (Siva) and His consort is Periyanayaki. The legend is that the deity here was worshipped by  Airavata (elephant), the mount of Indra. There are also shrines dedicated to Sarabeshwarar; a form Siva took when he wanted to quell the anger of Narasimha after killing Hirnyakashipu, then for Dakshina Murthy, a niche for Lingodhbavar and Vinayagar. The Vimana is akin to the big temple but approximately 1/3 of its size.

   The Nandi found outside the temple is huge and there are a few steps near it which produces musical notes when tapped. It is protected with a mesh presently.

   Great care is being taken to maintain the exterior as well as the interior . Lush green lawns stands apart with fine contrast to the pink sand stone temple.

   Interesting features: The chariot shaped mandapam leading to the temple. Musical steps near the Nandi mandapam outside.

 

Inscriptions in the Temple

  There are various inscriptions in the temple. One of these records the renovation of the shrines by Kulottunga Chola III.

  

 The north wall of the verandah consists of 108 sections of inscriptions, each containing the name and description and image of the Saivacharya (Saivite saints) listing the principal events in their life.

   

Another inscription close to the gopura, records that an image was brought from Kalyani, then known as Kalyanapura by emperor Rajadhiraja Chola I after his defeat of the Western Chalukya king Someshwara I, his sons Vikramaditya VI and Someshwara II his capture of the Chalukyan capital.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

  This temple was added to the list of Great Living Chola Temples in the year 2004. The Great Living Chola Temples includes the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur, the Temple of Gangaikondacholisvaram at Gangaikonda Cholapuram and the Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram. All of these temples were built by the Cholas between the 10th and 12th centuries CE and have a lot of similarities.

Veerabhathirar Temple

Veerabhathirar Temple ( behind Amman temple on Pateeswaram road )

Ottakkoothar, a famous Tamil Poet, the author of Thakkayaparani, a monumental Tamil Literary work depicting the story of Datchan the father of Dathchayani (also known as Parvathi or Sakthi) conducted a Yaga (a Holy Sacrifice) without inviting the supreme Lord Shiva visited this temple and sung about the main deity - Veerabhathirar - created from Shiva's curls.Ottakkoothar attained Jeeva Samadhi at this temple. This temple was believed to exist even before the Darasuram Airavatesvara temple i.e., before 12th Century A.D . Flat bricks are used to construct the Raja gopuram. The stucco figures ( dolls ) on the gopuram are made up of grinding the bricks. This is one of the ancient brick work done on large scale. The Kalasam and the top stage of the Raja gopuram undergone environmental destruction. One could see the bright saffron color of the Gopuram made up of bricks reflects during the sunset.

 Short read in Tamil: 

ஐராவதீஸ்வரர் கோயில் ஆன்மீக பயணிகளின் கூட்டத்தை அதிகமாக ஈர்த்து வருகிறது. ஐராவதம் என்பது இந்திரனின் யானை. துர்வாச முனிவரின் சாபத்தினால் தன்னுடைய நிறத்தை இழந்த ஐராவதம், இங்கு வந்து சிவனை வழிபட்டு, சாப விமோச்சனம் பெற்றதாம். அதனால், இந்த கோவிலுக்கு ஐராவதீஸ்வரர் கோயில்  என்ற பெயர் வந்ததாக கூறப்படுகிறது.

யம தர்ம ராஜா, இவ்விடத்திற்கு வந்து சிவபெருமானை வழிபட்டதாகவும் கூறுவர். இக்கோவிலில் வீற்றிருக்கும் சிவபெருமானை, ஐராவதீஸ்வரர் என்ற பெயரில் பக்தர்கள் வணங்கி வருகின்றனர். இக்கோவில், தமிழனின் கோவில் கட்டமைப்புக்கு ஒரு சிறந்த எடுத்துக்காட்டாக விளங்குகிறது. ஐராவதீஸ்வரர் கோயில் மிகவும் நுட்பமான சிற்ப வேலைப்பாடுகள் நிறைந்த திருத்தலம்.

கங்கைகொண்ட சோழபுரம் மற்றும் பிரகதீஸ்வரர் கோவில்களில் இருப்பதை விட சிறியதாக இருந்தாலும், மிகவும் நுணுக்கமான வேலைப்பாடுகள் கொண்டதாக திகழ்கிறது ஐராவதம் கோவில் சிற்பங்கள். ஒரு தேரை, குதிரைகள் இழுத்துச் செல்வது போல அமைந்திருக்கும் ஐராவதீஸ்வரர் கோயில், நிச்சயமாக நாம் அனைவரும் பார்க்க வேண்டிய அருமையான திருக்கோவில் ஆகும்.