The
architecturally popular Hindu temple Airavathesvara Temple located in
the town of Darasuram, near the Temple city of Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu was built
by Rajaraja Chola II (son of Chola ruler Raja Rajan) in the 12th century CE. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site (bestowed in 2004).
The other two near-by UNESCO heritage sites are Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur and the Gangaikonda cholapuram Temple at Gangaikonda Cholapuram; both are referred to as the Great Living Chola Temples.
Rajaraja II, the ruler of the Chola kingdom from 1143 to 1173, built this small temple with great care and attention, paying due attention to its architecture, exquisite stone sculptures and statues.
Inscriptions refer to this temple as Rajarajeshwaram, just like the one in Thanjavur. The Airavatesvara temple is another square plan structure completed in 1166 CE. The inner court yard measuring a total of about 107 meters (351 ft) by 70 meters (230 ft).
According the to the legend Demigod Indira's white elephant, Airavata, lost his pristine white colour on account of a curse. However, the animal regained its original color after worshiping Lord Shiva here; hence the temple is called Airavathesvara Temple The temple is surrounded by tall well-built wall with a series of seated bulls on it facing outside . The boundary wall is punctuated by an entrance gate with a small gopura on one side and on the opposite side the entrance is roofless. There is a small pavilion for the seated Nandi facing the sanctum in front of the main entrance. Right before the entrance, very close to the mandabam, one can see the flagpole - Dwajastham made of pure copper. Both Nandi and the stambha lie aligned on the east-west axis.
The sanctum has a square plan 39 feet on sides. There is no prathakshana path (prakaram) just like Thanjavur big temple.
The sanctum/ garbhagriha is connected to the mukha-mandapa through the ardha-mandapa supported on pillars and flanked by two massive devarapalas (sentinels). The maha mandapa has a rectangle plan 79 feet by 59 feet with six rows of pillars (total 48 pillars). East of this mandapa is the Agara mandapa, called the Rajagambhiram Thirumandapam, is a masterpiece, a glorious creation in this temple. The fascinating feature is it is designed like a chariot on which Lord Shiva rides taking the avatar as Tripurantaka. The purpose was to destroy three demon brothers.The chariot is pulled by three galloping horses and elephants and Lord Brhama is the the charioteer.The chariot is held by eight pillars with Yalis (part lion part griffins or gryphon at their bases and five niches are adorned in the front, with images of five deities - Agni, Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Vayu.
In the garbagriha, the main deity is in the form of linga -1.5 meter tall. Unlike the Brihadeshwara temple at near-by Thanjavur where the tower above Garbagriha (sanctum) is very tall (reaching 206 feet), here the gopura is just 25 meter tall. Shiva's consort, Periya Nayaki Amman (Parvati) has a detached Shrine close to the north of the Airavateshvarar temple. The latter was built by the Kulothuna Chola III and some historians suggested Nayak rulers of Thanjavur made some additions. However, this shrine was not part of the original plan. This
temple, it is said marked the beginning of a new practice of building shrines
dedicated to the Goddess as Lord Shiva’s consort, and not just another
attendant deity.
On the temple premises one can see lots of structures and gopurams in a damaged state, pointing out, at some point of time in the past centuries ago, this wonderful place was damaged on purpose. After analyzing various theories as to the ruins of many parts of this amazing temple, there is a likelihood that the the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur in 1311, followed by Khusrau Khan in 1314 and Ulugh Khan (Muhammad bin Tughlaq) in 1327 looted this place in the hope of finding the temple treasures.. The temple city of Srirangam, Tiruchy was raided during this tumultuous period and faced massive destruction and, in the wake, 12000 Vaishnavites were killed when they protected the main deity at the Perumal temple. The period that followed saw confrontations between the Hindu kings and the Muslim Sultans who seceded the Delhi Sultanate and carved out a new kingdom called Madurai Sultanate (1335–1378). It was the Vijayanagara Empire who defeated the Madurai Sultanate in 1378 and this temple and other Chola era temples thereafter came under Hindu kings again who repaired and restored many of them back to splendor.
For art lovers, the Darasuram temple is a paradise. You need lots of time to explore this place initially. It is being managed by the ASI.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airavatesvara_Temple
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| Airavathesvara Temple,Darasuram, Tamil Nadu en.wikipedia.org/ |
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| Airavatesvara temple, Tamil Nadu 10yearitch.com |
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| Airavathesvara Temple,Darasuram 10yearitch.com |
Inscriptions refer to this temple as Rajarajeshwaram, just like the one in Thanjavur. The Airavatesvara temple is another square plan structure completed in 1166 CE. The inner court yard measuring a total of about 107 meters (351 ft) by 70 meters (230 ft).
According the to the legend Demigod Indira's white elephant, Airavata, lost his pristine white colour on account of a curse. However, the animal regained its original color after worshiping Lord Shiva here; hence the temple is called Airavathesvara Temple The temple is surrounded by tall well-built wall with a series of seated bulls on it facing outside . The boundary wall is punctuated by an entrance gate with a small gopura on one side and on the opposite side the entrance is roofless. There is a small pavilion for the seated Nandi facing the sanctum in front of the main entrance. Right before the entrance, very close to the mandabam, one can see the flagpole - Dwajastham made of pure copper. Both Nandi and the stambha lie aligned on the east-west axis.
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| Pillared maha mandapa. Airavathesvara Temple,Darasuram 123RF.com |
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| Airavathesvara Temple,Darasuram, TN Sculptures on the walls wikipedia |
The sanctum/ garbhagriha is connected to the mukha-mandapa through the ardha-mandapa supported on pillars and flanked by two massive devarapalas (sentinels). The maha mandapa has a rectangle plan 79 feet by 59 feet with six rows of pillars (total 48 pillars). East of this mandapa is the Agara mandapa, called the Rajagambhiram Thirumandapam, is a masterpiece, a glorious creation in this temple. The fascinating feature is it is designed like a chariot on which Lord Shiva rides taking the avatar as Tripurantaka. The purpose was to destroy three demon brothers.The chariot is pulled by three galloping horses and elephants and Lord Brhama is the the charioteer.The chariot is held by eight pillars with Yalis (part lion part griffins or gryphon at their bases and five niches are adorned in the front, with images of five deities - Agni, Indra, Brahma, Vishnu and Vayu.
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| Airavathesvara Temple,Darasuram, Tamil Nadu en.wikipedia.org |
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| Chariot detail, Airavatesvara temple, Tamil Nadu en.wikipedia.org |
On the temple premises one can see lots of structures and gopurams in a damaged state, pointing out, at some point of time in the past centuries ago, this wonderful place was damaged on purpose. After analyzing various theories as to the ruins of many parts of this amazing temple, there is a likelihood that the the armies of Delhi Sultanate led by the Muslim commander Malik Kafur in 1311, followed by Khusrau Khan in 1314 and Ulugh Khan (Muhammad bin Tughlaq) in 1327 looted this place in the hope of finding the temple treasures.. The temple city of Srirangam, Tiruchy was raided during this tumultuous period and faced massive destruction and, in the wake, 12000 Vaishnavites were killed when they protected the main deity at the Perumal temple. The period that followed saw confrontations between the Hindu kings and the Muslim Sultans who seceded the Delhi Sultanate and carved out a new kingdom called Madurai Sultanate (1335–1378). It was the Vijayanagara Empire who defeated the Madurai Sultanate in 1378 and this temple and other Chola era temples thereafter came under Hindu kings again who repaired and restored many of them back to splendor.
For art lovers, the Darasuram temple is a paradise. You need lots of time to explore this place initially. It is being managed by the ASI.
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