| Description:
This Shivastalam is also known as Therur or Ratha puram (Sanskrit). The name Thittai comes
from the temple's location on sand dunes between the Vennar and Vettar rivers.
Tenkudittittai is also known as Vilvaranyam, Vasishtasramam, Dhenupuri. It is located at a
distance of about 3 km from Thanjavur. Ten Kudi Tittai is considered
to be the 15th in the series of Tevara Stalams in the Chola kingdom
located south of the river Kaveri. The
temple: This east facing temple enshrines Shiva in the form
of a Shivalingam with horizontal markings. The temple is designed such
that a drop of water falls on the Shivalingam once every few seconds.
Images of Nartana Ganapati, Dakshinamurthy, Lingodbhava, Bhrahma and
Durga adorn the niches. Ulaganayaki's shrine faces the south. Across
from the Ambal shrine is a mandapam with carvings of the 12 zodiac
signs. There is a separate shrine dedicated to Jupiter. There are also
shrines to Surya, Ganesha, Kali, Balasubramanya, Nataraja and
Gajalakshmi.
Legends: The Vedas,
Renukadevi, Vasishtar,
Gowtama, Adi Seshan, Kamadhenu and Vishnu are said to have worshipped here.
Legend also has it that this shrine surfaced on a mound between the
rivers Vennaar and Vettaar. The name Therur or Rathapuram arises from
the legend of the chariot of a king by name Sumali getting stuck in
the dunes here. Legend also has it that the dunes here emerged at the
end of the deluge and that Shiva appeared here in the form of a
Swayambhu Lingam.
Karunttattankudi or
Tiruvittakkudi a Tevara Vaipputtalam enshrining
Vasishteswarar is located nearby. Vasishtar's marriage with Arundhati is celebrated in the
month of Vaikasi in the Rohini asterism. Karikal Cholan is believed to have been
associated with this temple.
Two Gopurams adorn the front and the rear entrances to the Vittakkudi temple, which has
2 prakarams and a wealth of sculptural work. The Adhrnareeswarar image in the niche
of the sanctum shows Parvati constituting the right half of Shiva, in contrast to the
norm, where she occupies his left. The Vittakkudi temple has inscriptions from the period
of Uttama Cholan and his mother Sembiyan Mahadevi. The niche images here include
that of Sambandar, Natarajar, Appar, Bhikshatanar, Vinayakar, Dakshinamurthy, Agastyar,
Ardhanareeswarar, Lingodbhavar, Kankalamurthy, Kalyanasundarar, Veenadhara Dakshinamurthy,
Kalarimurthy, Bhikshatanar, Durga and Subramaniyar.
Festivals: Six worship services are carried out each day.
The annual festival at Tenkuditittai is celebrated in the month of
Aries. The annual
Bhrammotsavam at Tiruvittakkudi is celebrated in the month of Vaikasi (Taurus), where the
chariot procession happens on the 9th day, and the glass palanquin Saptastana festival
occurs on the 12th day. The Saptastanams here are Tenkudittittai, Vennaaru,
Tanjaipureeswarar, Gudalur, Kadapadappai, Punnainallur and Poomalai
Naaganathar. |
