Adi Kumbeswarar Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Tiruchirappalli International Airport is the nearest commercial airport to the town, about 91 km away.

• By train

  Daily express trains link the town with Chennai, Coimbatore, Madurai and Tiruchirappalli.

• By road

  National Highway NH-36 passes through the town. Regular buses run to Chennai, Thanjavur, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore, Salem and Puducherry.

Why devotees come here

Adi Kumbeswarar Temple stands in Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshipped here as Adi Kumbeswarar, in the form of a lingam. It is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam temples praised in the Tevaram hymns.

Shiva is worshipped here as Adi Kumbeswarar, in the form of a lingam, and his consort Parvati is depicted as Mangalambigai Amman. The temple is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalam, praised in the Tevaram hymns and counted among 276 temples in the Saiva canon. Legend says a pot, kumbha, belonged to Brahma and held the seed of all living beings on earth.

The present masonry structure was built in the 9th century under the Chola dynasty. Later expansions are attributed to Vijayanagara rulers and the Thanjavur Nayaks, and the Nayaks maintained the temple through the 15th to 17th centuries. The temple has four gateway towers, called gopurams. A corridor 330 feet long leads to the temple, and the Navaratri Mandapam has 27 stars and 12 rasis (constellations) carved in a single block. The central shrine houses the lingam image of Adi Kumbeswarar.

Festivals

• Once every twelve years, in Masi (February or March)Mahamaham

  Pilgrims from many parts of India come to Kumbakonam to take a holy bath in the Mahamaham tank.

• Masi (February or March)Masi Magam

  The temple's most prominent festival, held in the Tamil month of Masi.

Tips for your visit

• Lakhs of pilgrims visit Kumbakonam for Mahamaham.
• Thanjavur is about 40 km from the town of Kumbakonam.

Questions people ask