Kamarasavalli Chaturvedimangalam

This weekend somehow turned out to be exciting. Got to visit a temple supposedly built by a Chola King in the 8th / 9th century

The temple predates the great Brihadeeshwara Temple a.k.a. Big Temple @ Tanjore. It's located at a remote village called Kamarasavalli Chaturvedimangalam was a good distance of around 35 kms from our place. Just for a ref., it's around 35 kms from Thanjavur. On the way, our 19-yr old bike ran out of petrol and somehow we managed to get a litre, @ 10 Rs. more. And when we reached, we had sensed that the distance was worth it.


Rennovation is on the go there at the temple and is expected to be completed in the next few months...

Outer Wall-1	Outer Wall-2
Main Entrance	Parvathi's Shrine
Inner Entrance	The 2 small lions welcome at the entrance

Sthala Purana - History associated

The serpent Karkotaka is supposed to have sought refuge under Lord Shiva. And the then Chola King is somehow associated in a complicated myth. Notice the absence of a crown. The way they tied their hair and adorned was the mark of a king and the practice of a headgear came later, we were told.

Nandi Vahana

Nandi, the bull; the vehicle of Shiva, made of wood, by the then kings, we were told.

Karkotakeshwarar / Soundareshwarar - Shiva

The Main Deity - Shiva	Lord Muruga with his consorts
A few idols of Lord Ganesh kept together due to the rennovation

Panchaloka Statue

There was no power when we had been there and the priest was searching for the plate which is ised to perform Aarthi. Just when I tried my hands with the light from my mobile, I stumbled upon a sizeable metal piece and on further examination, it turned out to be a Panchaloka Statue. My dad was telling me that it would value up to a crore ! And since this was behind the bars, couldn't get a good view of this. Somehow managed to get this on a flash

The Goddess *Not sure of the name*

Deities on the wall of the Main Shrine

There were so many images of Gods and Goddesses carved, and I couldn't get much out of them, as most of them were new to me.
e.g. I've never come across an image of a detiy standing on a bull, but this was one of the main styles there.

Lord Ganesh	Sage Agasthya (?)
Lingodbhavar	No idea
Lord Brahma (?)	No idea
Vishnu Durga / Mahishaasura Mardhini (?)

Inscriptions

I could read just a few letters and nothing more. And there are inscriptions all over the temple !

Mini-carvings

These are a few from the outer-wall of the main shrine. Again, each of these convey some story, but am not sure of what it would probably be !

Ruins

The temple, although in a very bad state, of course, it's been a millenia since some caretaking took place, but is looking for some better days. Some billionare lady from Mumbai dedicated in ancient-temple-rennovation activity is sponsoring, it seems.

A deformed sculpture of some deity	Another one found at a corner of the temple
The shrine for Lord Ganesh; repairs	The 'mandapam' at the entrance of the temple
Too many such idols lying scattered	The outer 'mandapam'
The Gopuram / tower of the main shrine.	The other side of the outer-mandapam.
A subway that led to the King's palace @ Thanjvur had been here. But closed now.	Many such pillars lying on the way
This mandapam to be used during processions in festival seasons	Supposedly, a store room.
And we finally bid a bye to the place after a few minutes with these kids.

Some additional info and a few pics on the temple...

Weird

On the way home, we noticed a lot of weird creatures on the sky... Could get just the 2 of these...

Kaarthigai

And finally, enjoyed the Lunar Eclipse, lit lamps all over our home, burst some crackers and celebrated the Kaarthigai festival.