Thiruvisanallur Sivayoginathar Temple
Sivayoginathar Temple also known as Yoganandeswarar temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in is located in Thiruvisanallur in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India. Shiva is worshiped as Sivayoginathar, and is represented by the lingam and his consort Parvati is depicted as Mangala Nayagi. The presiding deity is revered in the 7th century Tamil Saiva canonical work, the Tevaram, written by Tamil poet saints known as the nayanars and classified as Paadal Petra Sthalam. There are many inscriptions associated with the temple indicating contributions from Cholas, Thanjavur Nayaks and Thanjavur Marathas. The oldest parts of the present masonry structure were built during the Chola dynasty in the 9th century, while later expansions, are attributed to later periods, up to the Thanjavur Nayaks during the 16th century. The temple house a five-tiered gateway tower known as gopurams. The temple has numerous shrines, with those of Sivayoginathar and Soundaranayagi being the most prominent. The temple complex houses many halls and three precincts. The temple has six daily rituals at various times from 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and five yearly festivals on its calendar. The Aippasi Brahmostavam festival when the sacred marriage of the presiding deity is performed, is the major festival in the temple. The temple is now maintained and administered by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Legend As per Hindu legend, a king belonging to present day Kerala had illicit relation with lot of women. He also tortured and cheated many of them. At one stage, the king wanted to restore to a decent life and found a yogi who advised him to visit Thiruvisanallur. The king reached the place, had a dip in river Cauvery and worshipped Sivayoginathar to get rid of his curse. The legend leads to the belief that whoever incurs curse of women, gets curative visiting the temple. As per another legend, Nandi (the sacred bull of Shiva) got rid of Yama (Hindu god of death), who was approaching a worshipper of Shiva. This legend leads to the belief that a visit to the place is a curative to death related fears. As per popular legend, a devotee who served in the temple of Tirumankalakkuti died there. He was brought back to life by the divine grace of Soundaranayagi. Brahma, who was born as the son of Vishnusarma, performed penance at this place along with his seven brothers and merged with the deity. Architecture Thiruvisanallur can be traced to the time of the Medieval Cholas having 97 inscriptions dating back to Parantaka I, Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola II. In modern times, the temple is now maintained and administered by Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. The Sivayoginathar Temple is believed to be built at the spot where eight Siva yogis attained salvation and merged with the lingam. The shrine is dedicated to Chatur Kala Bhairava, one of the four Bhairavas. The temple has a 5 tier rajagopuram with a