Thiruvarur Tourism - Also called "Kamalaalayashetra"

The subtle Thyagaraja swamy temple is one of the heritage sites of India representing the socio cultural history of the Tamils. One of the largest temples in India, it covers an area of 30 acres. Legends say that the trinity Gods of Hinduism like Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva decided to perform a pooja checking their will power. It was started with a decision that whoever is able to sustain it for a long time is the best of all. It was Lord Vishnu who performed it for a time longer than others....

Housed around a tremendous 33 acre area, the Rajagopala Swamy temple at Mannargudi, is all what a Vaishnavite temple should be. Legend has it that there were two sages, Gopilar and Gopralayar, who wanted to visit Lord Krishna at Dwarka. When they set out towards Dwarka, they meet sage ‘Narada’, the head of all sages. They came to know that Krishna Avatharam (one of the incarnations of Vishnu) was over and they could not visit the God there as they wanted to be. Narada consoled them to start a penance at this place....

The importance of this temple is that it is the only temple exclusively dedicated to Goddess Saraswathi in Tamil Nadu. The vibration around this place is always energetic resulting from the chants of the pilgrims. It was the king Raja Raja Chola, who gifted this village to a poet, ‘Ottakoothar’. The king was highly impressed with this poetic artistry and named the village on his name. The occurrence of the Goddess Saraswati has a legend to say. Once, there happened a quarrel between lord Brahma and his wife Saraswati....

Abathsahayeswarar Temple (Apatsahayesvarar Temple) is located in Alangudi, dedicated to planet God Dakshinamurthy. The presiding deity is mentioned in the 7th century Tamil Saivite work ‘Thevaram’ and one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams. As per Hindu mythology, once upon a time, Devas (divine souls) and demons tried to churn the cosmic ocean in order to obtain ‘Amirta’, which is considered as the nectar for immortal life at the suggestion of lord Vishnu. For a churning pole they use Mount Mandara and use the serpent king Vasuki....

Thirupampuram is considered to be the 59th of 276 Thevara Paadal Petra Sthalams, located South of Cauvery river. The epigraphs seen here are 28 in number, belonging to the period of different Chola rulers. The place was known by the name ‘Kulothunga Chola Chaturvedi Mangalam’ during their time. Once, lord Ganesha was offering prayers to his father lord Shiva. At that time, the serpent in the neck of lord Shiva had a thought that he too is worshiped by Ganesha....

The presiding deity of this temple is lord Shiva as Vanchinathan and his consort Parvati as Mangalambigai. The speciality of the temple is that the shrine is facing East and West & so, the poojas are done in both the directions. The lingam here is self manifested. There is a separate shrine for lord Yama here, which is not common everywhere. It is the reason that Yama, the God of death, felt very sad that he was assigned the job of taking the life of people while there are many jobs of divine nature....