हिंदीOn this day
Standing

Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram

A smaller, jewel-like Chola temple near Kumbakonam, where Indra’s white elephant Airavata worshipped Shiva. Its front hall is carved as a chariot drawn by horses.

Built: 12th century, Rajaraja Chola IIWhere: Tamil NaduDeity: Bhagwan Shiva as Airavateshvara10.95° N, 79.36° E
  1. c. 1146–1173
  2. 2004
Photo: Vyacheslav Argenberg · CC BY 4.0

01Airavata and Yama

The temple’s katha says that Airavata, cursed by Durvasa to lose his white colour, bathed in the tank here and worshipped Shiva until the curse lifted. Yama too is said to have bathed here to be healed, and the tank is still called Yamatirtham. Rajaraja II, who ruled from about 1146 to 1173, raised the temple in his capital, then called Rajarajapuram. The steps of the bali-pitha in front are carved so that, struck, they give out different notes.

02Carving at miniature scale

Where Thanjavur overwhelms by size, Darasuram rewards the patient eye. Panels a hand high show the lives of the 63 Nayanmars, the Shaiva saints, with labels in Tamil. Pillars carry dancers, musicians and acrobats; the mandapa has wheels and prancing horses as if it could roll. In 2004 UNESCO joined it to Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram as the Great Living Chola Temples.

The life of this place

  1. c. 1146–1173Built under Rajaraja Chola II.
  2. 2004Inscribed by UNESCO with the Great Living Chola Temples.
Visiting

4 km from Kumbakonam. The inner court is low-lying and often holds water after rain.

Nearby

Adi Kumbeswarar Temple, KumbakonamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Adi Kumbeswarar Temple, Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam takes its name from this temple’s linga: the pot, kumbha, of amrita that Shiva broke with an arrow after the pralaya, mixing the nectar with sand. It is the chief temple of the Mahamaham.

Kumbakonam and the Mahamaham tankStanding
Sultanates, Vijayanagara and the kingdoms that stood

Kumbakonam and the Mahamaham tank

The temple town where the pot of amrita came to rest after the pralaya. Every twelve years, at the Mahamaham, the holy rivers of Bharat are said to bathe in its tank.

Sarangapani Temple, KumbakonamStanding
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam

The great Vishnu temple of Kumbakonam and one of the foremost Divya Desams, whose sanctum is built as a chariot drawn by horses and elephants. A single decad of Nammalvar heard here led Nathamuni to recover the four thousand hymns of the Alvars.

Nageswarar Temple, Kumbakonam (Kudanthai Keezhkottam)Standing
Cholas and the Southern Seas

Nageswarar Temple, Kumbakonam (Kudanthai Keezhkottam)

An early Chola temple of Kumbakonam famous for its life-size sculptures and for the sun’s rays that fall on the linga in Chittirai. Appar sang it.