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This
holy temple town is doubly famous for both visible and invisible
worshipful personages belonging to the celestial and terrestrial
world. Here was born the Musical trinity - Tyagaraja, Samasastry,
Muthuswamy Dikshithar, who lulled by their melodious tones both
class and mass of devotees and turned them god-wards by devotional
themes they incorporated in their songs. Several saint sages like
Appar, Sundarar, Sambandar, Arunagirinathar etc., poured out their
souls in verse bringing out the glory of the Lord. It is a very big
tirukkovil containing numerous niches for adorable deities. And a
separate big shrine for the image of Mother Parvathi, in the local
name of Kamalambigai is installed in yogagana pose. The Vinayaka of
this shrine is so powerful that he inspired Dikshitar to composing
the most popular song - `Vatapiganapathim ...". A separate
indepedent little pavilion outside the compound treasures up the
stone image of Manunithi Cholan, who kept the scales even by passing
death sentence to his son, for killing a calf by careless driving of
his chariot. Among the uniques of this place, the Azhi Ther - the
tirukkovil car deserves mention first, and it is the biggest of its
kind in India, and requires eighty thousand men to draw through the
streets during the annual festival. A sight indeed ! A boon
desirable !! A pride pardonable !!!
This
temple town lies at 40 km east off Tanjore and commands all modes of
conveyances.
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