AdiKumbeswarar Temple, dedicated to Lord Shiva is an ancient temple located in Kumbakonam, a town in the state of Tamil Nadu. This temple is constructed at an area of over 30181sq. feet and is believed to be around 1300 years old. The famous Mahamaham festival that is celebrated once in 12 years is associated closely with this temple. This temple is known as “Padal Petra Sthalam”, meaning, a temple that has been sung and glorified by the Nayanars. These Saiva Nayanaras have mentioned a lot about this temple in the sacred hymns of Tevarams of 7th century.

Legend

Kumba means pot and Kona means crooked. It is believed that once the deluge set in and Kaliyuga was about to start, the celestial pot full of nectar that had the secret of life came to rest at this place. Lord Brahma held the pot and Lord Shiva broke the pot with his arrow, thereby spilling the contents and rejuvenating the essence of life on earth. The place where Lord Shiva broke the pot in the disguise of a farmer is the Mahamaham tank that we see today. The town of Kumbakonam also credits its name to the Kumbeswarar temple.

History

The history of the AdiKumbeswarar temple can be dated back to as early as 7th century to the times of the Chola rulers. Later on, when the Nayaks took over, they modified and renovated this place during the 15th to 17th centuries.

Architecture

Kumbeswarar temple, which is the biggest Shiva temple in Kumbakonam, has a corridor that is 330ft. long and 15ft. wide. The temple is famous for the majestic five chariots made in silver, inside its premises. It is on these chariots, that deities are carried around during important temple festivals. The gateway tower or the rajagopuram is huge and has 9 layers. Located right at the centre of Kumbakonam, this temple is huge and constructed over 4 acres. The 3 compounds that are constructed along the east-west axis of the temple are concentric in design and have three sets of gopurams each.

It is believed that the main deity of Kumbeswarar found in the sanctum sanctorum of this temple was made by Lord Shiva himself using nectar and sand. This shrine is located at the centre of the temple. Towards the left side of this, one can find the shrine dedicated to His consort, Mantrapeeteswari Mangalambika. The hall of the temple is colonnaded and there are huge silver vahanas or chariots found inside the temple complex used for carrying the deities during important occasions and festivals. A huge hallway, replete with intricate paintings and sculptures, leads into the gopuram of the temple. A highlight of this temple is the single block of stone where the 27 stars and 12 rasis are carved into. This block is found in the Navaratri Mandapa, the place where Navratri celebrations take place. Other attractions here are statue of Lord Subramanya having 6 hands as against the usual pattern of 12 hands and the nagaswarams and kiratamurthis made from stone.

Right at the centre of the temple is the shrine dedicated to AdiKumbeswarar. Parallelly, towards the left is the shrine dedicated to Mangalambika and towards the right is the shrine of Somaskanda. As in the case of all Shiva temples, sculptures of the Nalvars (Appar,Sundarar, Manickavasagar and Sambandhar), 63 Nayanmars, Virabhadra, Saptakannikas, Visalakshi, Visvanatha, Valam Chuzhi Vinayaka, Bhikshatana, Karthikeya, Annapurani, Gajalakshmi, Mahalakshmi, Saraswathi, Jasta Devi, Durga, Chandikesa, Kuratirtha, Arukala Vinayakar, Nandi, Bali peetham, Sabha Vinayaka, Kasi Visvanatha and Nataraja are found at this temple as well. Some of the other images that are found here are Navaneetha Vinayaka, Kiratamurti, Bhairava, Jvarahareswara, Chaota Sri Govinda Dikshits-Nagammal, Adikara Nandhi (the sacred bull of Shiva), Vallabha Ganapathi, Shanmukha, Navagraha (nine planetary deities), Nandhi, Lakshmi Narayana Perumal, Mutra Veli Vinayaka, Bala Dandayutapani, Nandhi, Vanni Vinayakar, Kumbha Munisiddhar, Kumarappar, Adilinga, Sattananthar and Chandra-Surya.  The temple is made up of other components like kitchen, vasanthamandapam, cattle shed, elephant shed, decoration hall, repose chamber, decoration hall, sacrificial hall, hall with four pillars and the garden. Just on the axis of the presiding deity of AdiKumbeswarar, one can find the flag mast constructed.

The seven important bathing ghats of the sacred Cauvery river that are closely associated with the temple are Mahamaham Tank, Potramarai Tirtha, Varuna Tirtha, Kasyapa Tirtha, Chakkara Tirtha, Matanga Tirtha and Bhagavad Tirtha. The three wells inside the temple are Naga Thirtha, Kura Thirtha and Mangala Kupam Asva while the four tanks found in the temple premises are Surya Thirtha, Gautama Thirtha, Varaha Thirtha and Chandra Thirtha.

Festivals

The most important festival in this temple is the Mahamaham festival that is celebrated in a grand way once in twelve years. It is celebrated during the months of February or March. Devotees from different parts of the country and abroad, come to Kumbakonam to take a holy dip in the Mahamaham tank during this festival. In the early days, Govind Diskhitar started the practice of Tulapurushadaram in this temple, where one could weight them against gold and then donate the gold to the temple. Gold from Govind Dikshitar was used for building most of the temple’s 16 mandapams that are situated around the tank. The famous ruler, Krishnadeva Raya (1509-1529CE) is believed to have witnessed the Mahamaham festival during his time. He had also donated a considerable sum for the construction of this temple and this can be understood from the inscriptions found here.

Temple Rituals

The chief temple priest belongs to the Shaiva community, just like in the case of other Shiva temples in the world. There are lots of special prayers and daily prayers conducted here on an everyday basis. The main pujas are conducted six times in day – starting from early morning 5.30AM (Ushathkalam), 8AM (Kalasanthi), 10AM (Uchikalam), 5PM (Sayarakshai) and 7PM (Irandamkalam) till 8PM (ArdhaJamam). In each of these pujas, a line of activities like abhishekam (holy bath of the Lrod), alankaram (decoration), naivedyam (sacred offering of food to the gods) and finally the grand Deepa Aradhanai (lighting of numerous lamps) are performed in the shrines Kumbeswarar and Mangalambika. The process of worship is accompanied by the pleasant music from the pipe instrument of nadaswaram and the percussion instrument of tavil, along with the sacred chanting of religious texts like Vedas and devotees prostrating completely in the temple premises. Every week, special pujas and prayers are conducted during Somavaram (Monday) and Shukravaram (Friday). Pradosham is celebrated here with great fervour every fortnight. Days like Amavasya, Purnima, kiruthigai and Chaturthi that occur every month are of special importance in this temple.

Best time to Visit

There is no particular best season to visit this temple because it is open all through the year. However one can enjoy this temple very well, when visited during October to March, because the climate is very pleasant during this time. Once every 12 years, the Mahamaham festival is celebrated in this temple in a grand way, during the months of February or March. This festival will next be celebrated in 2016 and it will be the best time to visit this place.

How to Reach

By Train

Kumbakonam railway station is the nearest rail head to go to this temple. This station is well-connected by trains from various cities like Chennai, Quilon, Tirupati, Rameshwaram and almost all the other major south Indian cities.

By Air

Trichy airport, at a distance of 96km from Kumbakonam, is the nearest to reach this temple. The other nearest airport is Chennai, which has a good network of domestic and international flights flying through it and is located at a distance of about 273km from Kumbakonam.

By Road

Tamil Nadu State Regional Transport Corporation operates lots of buses to Kumbakonam from important places like Chennai, Trichy, Chidambaram and almost all the big towns and cities. If you are ready to splurge, you can take a prepaid taxi from Chennai to Kumbakonam directly for around 2500INR.