Kampahareswarar Temple, Thirubuvanam
Lord Shiva removed the shivering ( Kampa) of the king Varaguna Pandyan,
who was being haunted by a Bramharakshasa (Evil spirit) because the king
had trampled & killed a Brahmin
boy with his horse by accident. In spite of leaving the Bramhahaththi (evil
spirit) in the eastern gate of Thiruvidaimaruthur, the king shivered thinking that the evil spirit,
will catch up with him. Lord Shiva relieved him of this shaking which led to
the name of Kampaharesvara.
The Kampahareswarar
Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Shiva. It
is situated in the town of Thirubuvanam. Shiva is worshipped as "Kampahareswarar"
Kampa (Shaking) Hara (relief) Iswara( Lord
The main deity is that of Lord Shiva, in the form of a
Lingam called Kampahareswara. His consort Parvathi is called Dhramasamvardhini.
There is a separate shrine for Sarabeswarar and a metal
icon of the same deity within the sanctum. Sarabeshwarar a fusion of man, eagle
and lion - the deity is believed to have relieved
the Devas (celestial deities) from the fury of Vishnu in
the form of Narasimha after he slayed Hiranyakashipu.
Vishnu killed the demon king and he drank Hiranyakashipu’s blood. The
blood was so evil even Narashimma Murthy (lord Vishnu) got disturbed and he
started destroying the world due to uncontrollable anger. All Rishis and Devas
got frightened on the situation and pleaded to Lord Shiva to save the world
from Narashimma Murthi’s anger. Lord Shiva took a Sarabeswarar form and started
chasing the Narashimma Avatar of Vishnu. Sarabeswarar is a form of half animal
and half bird with 8 legs, 4 hands, 2 feathers and sharp tooth, nails that look
ferocious. Narashimma got frightened looking at Sarabeswarar and started
running. Sarabeswarar touched Narashimma and calmed him from his ugra (Angry)
form. The sculpture of Sharbeshwara is seen with eight legs,
with half body and face of a lion with an eagle beak, wings and a tail. It has
four human arms, the right upper hand holds axe, noose is held in the lower
right hand, the deer in the upper left hand and fire in the lower left hand.
Narasimha is shown with eight arms, flaying and struggling under Sharbeshwaramurti’s
feet. The shrine has sculptures of Sridevi and Bhudevi, the consorts of Vishnu.
Yali, a
mythical creature with the face of a lion, which is otherwise considered a
symbol of Nayak architecture has its earliest representation in Chola art in
the temple, built by the Later Cholas of the 13th century.
The temple, was constructed by the Chola king Kulothunga
Chola III(1176 CE) as a memorial of his successful North Indian campaign.
He is also denoted for the construction of the Nataraja shrine and the mukhamandapa.
The architecture of the temple is similar to the
Brihadeeswara temple at Thanjavur, Airavateshwara
Temple at Darasuram and Gangai Konda
Cholapuram temples. The distinct features of all these temples is
the Vimana, the structure
over the sanctum, being taller than the gateway tower, which is an unusual
feature in just these four temples of Dravidian architecture built by the
Cholas. These kind of temples are much prevalent in other parts of India except
south.
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