Airavatesvara Temple, Darasuram

Deity

Airavatesvarar and Periya Nayaki

Where

Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu · 10.95N 79.36E

Usual hours

6.30 am – 12 pm, 5 pm – 8 pm — hours change with festivals and the season; check before travelling. Were these right when you went?

Grahas

Guru

Visited for

The third of the great Chola temples, where Airavata the white elephant was cured. The stone chariot and the singing steps are its marks; visited for relief from a skin complaint.

The sthala purana has it that Airavata, Indra’s white elephant, lost its colour under a curse from Durvasa and regained it by bathing in the tank here — which is where the name Airavatesvarar comes from.

A second story attaches to the same tank: Yama, burning under a sage’s curse, is said to have bathed in it and been cooled, and the tank is called the Yama theertham for it.

The temple was built under Rajaraja Chola II and is the third of the Great Living Chola Temples on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is smaller than Thanjavur and Gangaikonda Cholapuram and is carved more finely than either.

The Periya Nayaki Amman shrine stands detached, across the road from the main temple, and was probably part of the same plan.

The front mandapam is shaped as a chariot, with stone wheels at its base and horses drawn up to pull it — the model for the better-known chariots at Konark and Hampi.

A short flight of steps at the entrance rings when struck, and is always called the singing steps.

The miniature friezes around the base are the reason to come: the stories of the sixty-three Nayanmars are carved in sequence in panels a hand’s breadth high, along with dancers, acrobats and musicians.

Maha Sivaratri is the main day. The temple is worshipped but quiet, and most of its visitors come to look at the carving rather than for a festival.

Also called

Airavatesvara Temple, Rajarajapuram

Period

Chola, built under Rajaraja II in the twelfth century

Reaching it

Darasuram is about 4 km west of Kumbakonam on the road to Swamimalai. Kumbakonam is the nearest railway station.

• Adi Kumbeswarar Temple 2.5 km · Saiva
• Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam 2.5 km · Vaishnava
• Thiruvalanchuzhi Kapardeeswarar Temple 3.3 km · Ganapathi
• Swamimalai Swaminatha Swamy Temple 3.5 km · Murugan
• Patteeswaram Durgai Amman Temple 3.5 km · Sakta (Amman)
• Thirunageswaram Naganathaswamy Temple 8.3 km · Saiva

Been to this temple? The things that change — whether the hours on this page were right, whether the sannidhi was open, how long the queue was on a Saturday — are exactly what no printed source keeps current, and what the next person travelling here needs.

• Were the hours right when you went?
• Is anything on this page wrong or out of date?
• A photograph of the gopuram, the tank, or the notice board

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