Odyssey across India: Fascinating temples around Kumbakonam

The name Kumbakonam for people from Tamilnadu evokes fond memories of the aromatic filter coffee, excellent mess food ( small eateries where food is almost like home made ) and above all fascinating temples stoked in history, stunning grandeur in architecture and the sheer size of some of these temples. Once I had attended a short MDP session in the IIM Ahmedabad. On the first day, one of the professors explained to us the rationale of the big walls of the IIM. He beautifully explained that the idea is to make yourself feel humble, show how small you are before the institution, to show that what you know is nothing compared to the enormous knowledge which you dont have and create an environment where you shed your ego and create an atmosphere where gaining knowledge becomes a priority. May be some of these temples in Kumbakonam also were done with a similar purpose. Not just Kumbakonam but temples across Tamilnadu mostly follow this pattern with each one engaging in a healthy beauty contest competition.

Temples across Tamilnadu are categorised into various sub groups like Padal petra sthalams ( 275 temples revered by the Saiva Nayanars and are among the greatest Shiva temples ), Divya desams ( 108 temples of Vishnu decorated by the Vaishnava Alwars ), Pancha bootha sthalangal ( representing the 5 main nature elements ), greatest living chola temples ( 3 of them comprising Brihadeeswarar, Darasuram and Gangai Konda cholapuram ), Arupadi veedu ( 6 important temples of Lord Karthikeya ) etc. These are just a portion of the total temples across the state.

Being from Chennai, I was always fascinated by the large temples around TN. Always make it a point to visit them whenever possible. My dad hails from Mayiladuthurai ( a short distance from Kumbakonam ) and these places always evokes fond memories for him.

This was my second visit to Kumbakonam where I stayed for 3 days at my usual abode - Rayas Grand ( good hotel in heart of the town, clean rooms and serves reasonable food ). The earlier visit was with my parents for visiting the Navagraha temples which are scattered around Kumbakonam. This time the visit was specific for visiting Vaitheeswaran Koil and the rest of the time available to visit the grand old temples around Kumbakonam including all 3 of the greatest living chola temples.

The rest of this blog is more of a photolog. In this case the pictures definitely do speak for themselves.

Built by Raja Raja Cholan , the Bruhadeeswarar temple also called as Periya Koil ( Big temple ) is a stunning architectural marvel. The main Vimana is over 60m tall, the temple has one of the largest shiva lingam and Nandi. The temple is over 1000 years old. The temple is the foremost of the 3 greatest living chola temples.

The quiet temple at Thiruvilanchuzhi is amidst beautiful surroundings. The place is famous for Swetha Vinayagar though the main deity is Shiva. The Ganesha here is said to be built with Ocean foam.

Built by Rajendra Cholan, the temple also called Bruhadeeswar temple is situated in Gangai Konda Cholapuram. The temple was built to celebrate the kings victory over the Pala dynasty. The name of the town literally means the land of the chola who conquered the Ganges. This is also one of the Greatest living Chola temples.

Swamimalai Murugan temple

Main Gopuram of the Adi Kumbeswarar temple. Kumbakonam gets its name from this temple. The main gopuram is a huge structure.

Swamimalai temple steps leading to the main deity

Upppiliappan Temple

Sirkali Sattainathar temple. The temple has a very important place in history as its the place where Sambandar is said to have been fed milk by Parvati herself and he went on to become a great poet.

This temple at Thirubhuvanam was not originally in the list of places where we were to visit. However the driver on seeing our interest in chola architecture suggested this place. Its a massive temple with hardly any crowd. The temple for Lord Sarabeswara was constructed by the Cholas too.