KUMBAKONAM

The town of Kumbakonam is situated between two rivers. The town is surrounded by small villages of great historical importance. The agricultural region around the town is famous for its betelnuts and betel leaves. There are around 188 Hindu temples within the municipal limits of Kumbakonam. During the British Empire, Kumbakonam was a centre for European education, Hindu culture and Brahminism. A religious town become an industrial centre during the last quarter of the 19th Century. Nowadays Kumbakonam is primarily a market city for surrounding smaller towns and agricultural villages.

Mahamaham Tank

This is one of the larges temple tanks in Tamil Nadu. Based on the mythology of the city the Adi Kumbeswara temple is buildt on the site where a famous pot was destroyed by Shiva and the liquid flowed into the tank. The tank is located in the centre of Kumbakonam. Around every twelve years the Masimaham festival is celebrated in Kumbakonam, The Masimaham festival is an event that is revelled in Tamil month of Masi (February-March) in the star of Magam. Then giant crowds of people come to have a dip in the tank. It is believed that all rivers of India meet on this day in the tank. So a bath in the tank is equal to a bath in all the holy rivers in India. During the festival in 1992, one million devotees came to visit and bath in the tank. The next festival will be celebrated in 2016.

Temple of Airatesvara

The Temple of Airatesvara is the smalles one og the Chola temples dedicated to Shiva. Accordng to Hindu mythology, Arateva, the white elephant of the king of goods, was able to concur a loss of his colour by bathing in this temple. Construction of this temple is all stone. It consists of a sanctum wothout a circumambulatory path and axial mandapas. The front mandapa is extraordinary as it was designed to lok like a chariot bulled by an elephant and a horse. The pillars of this mandapa are very ornate.