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The Airavateshwara temple stands in the village of Darasuram
is accessible through an easy 5-km bus trip (on the Thanjavur route) or
bike ride southwest of Kumbakonam. Lord Shiva is known here as "Airavateshwara",
because he was worshipped at this temple by "Airavata", the
white elephant of the King of the Gods, Indra.
The temple was built by King Rajaraja II (1146-1173 AD) in the late Chola
period. In the middle of the 14th century additions were made to the
existing temple, and finally the Pandya rulers completed the temple.
About The Temple
The main structure is an elongated rectangle of little height, rising
into a pyramidal tower at the western end. Round about are many other
buildings, all within the same enclosure - a characteristic of the
Dravidian style to follow. The pillars are typical of those of this period
with scalloped capitals and bases and brackets with a Cyma Recta curve
over the capital. The plastic ornamentation of the tower though good is
rather clustered and produces a feeling of confusion. The porch is in the
form of a wheeled chariot drawn by elephants.
The Exquisitely Made Figurines
Entrance is through a large Gopura (also spelt as Gopuram) gateway, 1m
below ground level, in the main wall, which is topped with small reclining
Bull figures. Inside the main building is set in a spacious courtyard.
Next to the inner sanctuary, fronted by an open porch, the steps of the
closed Mandapam feature elegant curled balustrades decorated with
Elephants and 'Makaras' (mythical crocodiles with floriated tails). At the
corners, rearing horses and wheels make the whole into a chariot.
Elsewhere, clever sculptural puns include the head of an elephant merging
with that of a bull.
Fine Chola black basalt images in wall niches in the Mandapam and the
inner shrine include Nagaraja, the Snake-King, with a hood of Cobras, and
'Dakshinamurti', the "south-facing" Lord Shiva as teacher,
expounding under a banyan tree. One rare image shows Lord Shiva as "Sharabha"
(partly man, beast and bird) destroying the man-lion incarnation of Lord
Vishnu, Lord Narasimha - indicative of the animosity between the Shaivite
and Vaishnavite cults.
Sharabha, in his own separate small Mandapam, is approached by a flight
of steps. Fanged 'Dvarpala' (door guardians) in 'Raudra' (furious) mood
flank the shrine entrance. Each possesses a club, their four hands in an
attitude denoting threat (tarjani) with Lord Shiva's trident, and the
'Trishula', wound into their hair.
The Series Of Panels
Outside, a unique series of somewhat gruesome panels, hard to see without
climbing on to the base, form a band along the top of the basement of the
closed Mandapam and the sanctum sanctorum. They illustrate scenes from
Sekkilar's Periya Purana, one of the great works of Tamil literature.
The poem tells the stories of the Tamil Shaivite saints, the "Nayanmars",
and was commissioned by King Kulottunga II, after the poet criticized him
for a preoccupation with erotic, albeit religious, literature. Sekkilar is
said to have composed it in the Raja Sabha at Chidambaram and when it was
completed the king sat every day for a year to hear him recite it.
Legends Of Ardency
Each panel illustrates the lengths to which the saints were prepared to
go to demonstrate devotion to Lord Shiva. For example, the boy Chandesha,
whose job was to tend the village cows, discovered one day that they were
involuntarily producing milk. He decided to bathe a Linga (also spelt as
lingam) with the milk as part of his daily worship. Appalled by this
apparent waste, the villagers complained to his father, who went to the
field, cursed the boy, and kicked the Linga (also spelt as lingam) over.
At this affront to Lord Shiva, Chandesha cut off his father's leg with an
axe; he is shown at the feet of Lord Shiva and Parvati, who have garlanded
him.
Another panel shows a man who frequently gave food to Lord Shiva's
devotees. When his wife was reluctant to welcome and wash the feet of a
mendicant who had previously been their servant, he cut off her hands.
Elsewhere, a Pallava queen has her nose cut off for inadvertently smelling
a flower, rendering it useless as an offering to Lord Shiva. The last
panel shows the saint Sundara, who by singing a hymn to Lord Shiva,
rescued a child who had been swallowed by a crocodile.
On the lowest portions of the base, rows of 'Yalis' (mythical lions) and
Ganas, the dwarf attendants of Lord Shiva, dance and play musical
instruments. Surrounding the main shrine, a four-metre-wide channel,
created by a very low wall, is decorated with lotus patterns and badly
damaged Nandis.
Road: To reach the temple tourists can also hire a
taxi from Kumbakonam, which
is well connected by trains and buses with the different parts of the
state.
Road:The temple is an easy 5-km bus trip (on the
Thanjavur route) or bike ride
southwest of Kumbakonam,
Thanjavur district.
Accommodation is available at the moderate class and small budgeted hotels and lodges in Kumbakonam.