Kumbakonam

Kumbakonam dates back to the Sangam period and was ruled by the Early Cholas, Pallavas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagar Empire, Madurai Nayaks, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas.  Kumbakonam is known as the “temple town” due to the prevalence of a number of temples here and is noted for its Mahamaham festival which attracts people from all over the globe.

Kumbakonam is known for its temples and mathas. There are around 188 Hindu temples within the municipal limits of Kumbakonam. Apart from these, there several thousand temples around the town thereby giving the town the sobriquets temple town and City of temples The most important temples present in Kumbakonam are the Sarangapani temple, the Kumbeswara temple and the Ramaswamy temple.  The Sarangapani temple was constructed by Nayak kings in the 15th century and is twelve storeys high The Ramaswamy temple, which has scenes from the Hindu epic Ramayana depicted on its walls was constructed by the Nayak ruler Raghunatha Nayak in the 16th century. Its principal idol of Lord Rama is made from a single piece of saligrama. The Kumbeswara temple is considered to be the oldest Saivite shrine in the town. It was constructed by the Medieval Cholas in the 7th century AD At the centre of this temple, lies the Mahamaham tank where pilgrims from all parts of India bathe once every 12 years during the Mahamaham festival The temple of Nagesvara has a separate shrine for the Sun god Surya who is believed to have worshipped the Hindu God Shiva at this place. Kumbakonam has one of the few temples dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma Kumbakonam also has a number of Hindu monastic institutions or mathas. The Sri Sankara mutt of Kanchipuram was moved to Kumbakonam during the reign of Pratap Singh and remained in Kumbakonam until the 1960s. There are also two Vellalar mutts in the nearby towns of Dharmapuram and Thiruppanandal and a Raghavendra mutt in Kumbakonam There is also a branch of the Vaishnavite Ahobila mutt in Kumbakonam.  The Thirupureswarar temple of Patteeswaram, the Oppliyappan Sannadhi the Swamimalai Murugan temple and the Airavateswarar temple at Darasuram are located in the vicinity of Kumbakonam.