Thanjavur Kuberapureeswarar (Thanjapureeswarar) Temple

The temple stands where the Kumbakonam road leaves Thanjavur, right across from the Narasimhar shrine of the Thanjai Mamani Koil Divya Desam, with the Vennaru flowing just behind. It faces west, a yali guards the entrance, and from the doorway you can already see the lingam in the sanctum. Past two large dvarapalakas is the maha mandapam holding the shrines of Shiva and the goddess Anandavalli, whose shrine also has its own south-facing door and its own Nandi.

The temple legend goes like this. Brahma's mind-born son Pulastya had a son, Vishrava, and two of Vishrava's sons, Kubera and Ravana, were great devotees of Shiva. Shiva rewarded Kubera with rule of the north and gave him the world's wealth to hand out to those who worked for it, each according to his fate, while Mahalakshmi entrusted her eight kinds of wealth to Sanganidhi and Padmanidhi, who became Kubera's accountants. Then Ravana, swollen with the power of his penance, took all of Kubera's riches. Stripped of everything, Kubera went from one Shiva temple to the next until he reached a small shrine at the edge of this town and surrendered, with nowhere else to turn. Shiva did not fail him: on the new moon of Aippasi, Kubera got back all he had lost. The Lord who gave him refuge (thanjam) became Thanjapureeswarar, and, for blessing Kubera, Kuberapureeswarar too. His name passed to the town as Thanjavur.

Walking in from the Nandi, look out for Kubera himself, carved with folded hands before a lingam; beside him Lakshmi appears twice, as Dhana Lakshmi who brings wealth and Dhairya Lakshmi who brings courage. With the entrance on the west, the niche gods sit in an unfamiliar arrangement: Dakshinamurthy keeps the southern wall while Durga and Brahma share the northern one. A dancing Nataraja on the niche wall is a rare sight, and close by is a finely carved small relief of a twelve-armed, six-faced Murugan with Valli and Deivanai. Around the prakaram are a shed of old lingams, a five-faced Anjaneyar (Hanuman, horse, elephant, Narasimha and Varaha), Chandikeswarar, Vinayaka, Ayyappa and a separate Navagraha shrine. The sacred tree is the vilvam, and the Vennaru and the Sivaganga tank are its sacred waters.

The shrine stood at the edge of the town before the Brihadeeswarar temple was built, which is why it is called the oldest temple in Thanjavur, and key figures in the planning of the great temple came here to worship before work began. Sundarar mentions the place in one of his hymns, making it a Thevaram Vaippu Sthalam. The stone temple you see grew over several centuries and mostly shows medieval Chola features, while the goddess's separate south door and Nandi suggest later Pandya influence. Carved into the pillars at the front of the entrance passage are a good number of Marathi records, traces of the Maratha kings of Thanjavur who repaired or endowed the shrine. The temple is now run by the Thanjavur Palace Devasthanam committee, which looks after 88 temples in the region.

People with money worries, from debts to a failing business, come to pray before the image of Kubera. Kubera worship here is special on Deepavali and on Fridays, and every year a Kubera Yagam is held on the new moon of Aippasi, the day Kubera won back his wealth. Devotees whose prayers are answered give the Lord an abhishekam and a new cloth. These are devotional practices, and no gain of wealth is promised. If you want to take part in the yagam, ask the temple office about timings and fees in advance.