Bhairavesvarar Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

dedicated to the deity

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

, located at

Cholapuram Cholapuram is a panchayat town in the Thanjavur district of the state of Tamil Nadu, India.In ancient time, it's called as Bhairavapuram. Population According to the 2001 Indian population census, the population of Cholapuram was 6,364, of whi ...

Thanjavur district Thanjavur District is one of the Districts of Tamil Nadu, 38 districts of the States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur. The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. கடம்பூர் விஜயன், ஒரே கோயிலில் 64 பைரவர்கள், தினமணி, 21 ஆகஸ்டு 2020
/ref> நவக்கிரஹ தோஷ பரிகாரத் தலங்கள், சோழபுரம் ஸ்ரீ பைரவேஸ்வரர் ஆலயம்
/ref>

Location

This temple is located at a distance of 13 km. in

Kumbakonam Kumbakonam (formerly spelt as Coombaconum or Combaconum) or Kudanthai is a city municipal corporation in the Thanjavur district in the States of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Chennai and is the headq ...

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

highway, in Cholapuram. This place was known as Bhairavapuram.

Structure

This temple belonged to

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

period. Without any structure in the entrance, it has only the base of the front

mandapa A mandapa or mantapa () is a pillared hall or pavilion for public rituals in Indian architecture, especially featured in Hindu temple architecture. Mandapas are described as "open" or "closed" depending on whether they have walls. In temples, ...

. On either side of the

garbhagriha A ''garbhagriha'' or ''sannidhanam'' is the ''sanctum sanctorum'', the innermost sanctuary of a Hindu and Jain temples where resides the ''murti'' (idol or icon) of the primary deity of the temple. In Jainism, the main deity is known as the ''M ...

Vinayaka Ganesha ( sa, गणेश, ), also known as Ganapati, Vinayaka, and Pillaiyar, is one of the best-known and most worshipped deities in the Hindu pantheon and is the Supreme God in Ganapatya sect. His image is found throughout India. Hindu de ...

are found. Near to him Subramania is found. The goddess is facing south.

Presiding deity

The presiding deity is known as Bhairavesvarar and the goddess is known as Bhairavesvari. This is the place where Bairava appeared in the form of

. So, the presiding deity, who is in the

Lingam A lingam ( sa, लिङ्ग , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or aniconic representation of the Hindu god Shiva in Shaivism. It is typically the primary ''murti'' or devotional im ...

form is known as Bhairavesvarar. It is said that 64 Bharaivas have appeared in this place and the first Bhairava also came from this place. In the shrine of the goddess, only the face of the deity is found.அருள்மிகு பைரவேஸ்வரர் திருக்கோவில், சோழபுரம்
/ref> In this temple eight hand Bhairava is found. Here 64 peetas are found. It is believed that 64 Bhairavas, worshipped and did

pujas ''Puja'' ( sa, पूजा, pūjā, translit-std=IAST) is a worship ritual performed by Hindus, Buddhists and Jains to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honor a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an event. ...

and dhyāna in these 64 peetas.

Other deities

In this temple

Ardhanarishvara The Ardhanarishvara ( sa, अर्धनारीश्वर, Ardhanārīśvara, the half-female Lord, translit-std=IAST), is a form of the Hindu deity Shiva combined with his consort Parvati. Ardhanarishvara is depicted as half-male and half ...

Durga Durga ( sa, दुर्गा, ) is a major Hindu goddess, worshipped as a principal aspect of the mother goddess Mahadevi. She is associated with protection, strength, motherhood, destruction, and wars. Durga's legend centres around co ...

with eight hands,

Dakshinamurthy Dakshinamurthy () is an aspect of the Hindu god Shiva as a guru (teacher) of all types of knowledge. This aspect of Shiva, as the original guru, is his personification as the supreme or the ultimate awareness, understanding and knowledge. Thi ...

, Gangadharar and

Kalyanasundara Kalyanasundara (, literally "beautiful marriage"), also spelt as Kalyansundar and Kalyana Sundara, and known as Kalyanasundara-murti ("icon of the beautiful marriage"), Vaivahika-murti (वैवाहिक-मूर्ति, "nuptial icon") a ...

are also found.

Worship

On Saturdays special pujas are held here.

References

{{coord missing, Tamil Nadu Hindu temples in Thanjavur district Shiva temples in Thanjavur district