Thiagarajar Temple

The Thiagarajar Temple is located in Thiruvarur and is dedicated to God Thiagarajar. According to purana, God Vishnu held God Thiagesar in his heart and worshipped him. He then had to pass Thiagesar to God Indra. Now, God Indra wanted to destroy the demon named Valan who had his usurped position. So he approached Emperor Mushukunda. The emperor killed the demon and restored God Indra to his position. God Indra gave many gifts to the emperor and asked him what else he wanted. Mushukunda asked for Thiagesar, which God Indra was hesitant to part with as it was gifted to him by God Vishnu. He said that he cannot give it without the consent of God Vishnu. Mushukunda then went to the Milk Ocean, met God Vishnu and obtained his consent. Yet, as God Indra was not willing to part with Thiagesar, the God called Viswakarma, the divine sculptor, and asked him to make six similar Thiagesar and gave Mushukunda one by one. However, Mushukunda returned them as he did not think they were original. God Indra finally gave the real Thiagesa to the Emperor which he accepted along with the other six. Emperor Mushukunda called the divine sculptor, Viswakarma, and asked him to choose the right place to install the original Thiagesar on Earth. Vishwakarma placed Tiruvarur on one side and other places together on the side of a scale and found Tiruvarur heavier than the total of all other places and informed Mushukumda. Thus, God Thiagesar was installed in Tiruvarur by emperor Mushukunda. The other six idols of Thiagesar were installed in Nagapattinam, Tirunallaru, Tirukaravasal, Tirukuvalai, Tiruvaimur and Vedaranyam. All these places where Thiagesar is installed are known as Sapthavidasthalas. The Thiagesar form of Thiagaraja shows that one can attain bliss even while being a family man and enjoying marital pleasures in a righteous way. The body of Thiagesar is united with an energy called Kondi which is not separable from the God. Except for the face, all parts of the idol are hidden with flowers. Devotees get a darshan of the feet of God only twice a year, the left foot on the Aadhirai day in Margazhi (December - January) worshipped by sage Patanjali and the right on Panguni Uthiram (March - April) worshipped by Vyakrapada the tiger legged sage. Thiagaraja would come out only during the car festival day.