Beautiful Darasuram
Visited the beautiful temple of Darasuram (about 5 km from Kumbakonam). The temple is one of the two temples built by the Raja Raja Cholans (I and II), which have striking resemblences to the big temple in Tanjavur (the other one is in Gangai-konda-chozhapuram). The temple has now been taken over by the Archeological Society of India (ASI) for preservation and restoration. More info on wikipedia
here
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[caption id="attachment_1446" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="The ASI has really done a nice job landscaping the outer periphery of the temple."]
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[caption id="attachment_1447" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="Restoration work being carried out by the ASI."]
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[caption id="attachment_1450" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="Notice the similarity of the Gopuram to the Big temple in Tanjavur."]
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[caption id="attachment_1455" align="aligncenter" width="720" caption="Lot of greenery around the temple. "]
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Legend
: The temple kurukkal (priest) gave us a run down of the legend of the temple. The white elephant of Indra (Airavatha) was cursed by someone and became black. The elephant then, came to Darasuram, took bath in the temple tank, and then did abhisheka to the Lord, and Lord Shiva gave papa-vimochanam, and turned him back to his regal white color. Hence the name of the diety - Airavatheshwara. Lord Shiva's consort name here is Periya nayagi.