Yama Dharmaraja 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 ...
located at
Thiruchitrambalam
''Thiruchitrambalam'' is a 2022 Indian Tamil-language romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Mithran R Jawahar and produced by Kalanidhi Maran, under the banner Sun Pictures. The film stars Dhanush, Nithya Menen, Bharathiraja, ...
in the
Thanjavur district of
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 ...
. The temple is one of the few temples dedicated to
Yama
Yama (Devanagari: यम) or Yamarāja (यमराज), is a deity of death, dharma, the south direction, and the underworld who predominantly features in Hindu and Buddhist religion, belonging to an early stratum of Rigvedic Hindu deities ...
, the god of death.
Shrines
The presiding deity is Yama, the Hindu god of death. There are also shrines to Veeranar, Rakkachi, Muthumani,
Karuppu Sami, Kombukkaran and Vaduvachi. There are also idols of
Chitragupta,
Pambatti Siddhar,
Ayyanar and his consorts Poorna and Pushkalaa.
Mythology
According to
Hindu mythology
Hindu mythology is the body of myths and literature attributed to, and espoused by, the adherents of the Hindu religion, found in Hindu texts such as the Vedic literature, epics like ''Mahabharata'' and ''Ramayana'', the Puranas, and reg ...
,
Kamadeva the Hindu god of love, provoked the ire of
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 ...
and was burnt to death. The
Puradhana Vaneswarar Temple in neighboring
Peravurani lies on the spot where the incident is said to have taken place. However, on Yama's request, Kamadeva was restored to life. The Yama Dharmaraja Temple is believed to have been built at the spot where he was restored to life.
References
* {{cite web, title=Ema Dharmaraja Temple, work=
Dinamalar
''Dinamalar'' is an Indian Tamil daily newspaper. It was founded in 1951 by T. V. Ramasubba Iyer. ''Dinamalar'' has an average circulation of 942,812 (ABC Jan-June 2016)
History
Dinamalar was founded by T. V. Ramasubbaiyer on 6 September 195 ...
, url=https://temple.dinamalar.com/en/new_en.php?id=740
Hindu temples in Thanjavur district