Vaimurnathar Temple, Thiruvaimur
வாய்மூர்நாதர் கோயில், திருவாய்மூர்
Why this temple matters
At Thiruvaimur in the Kaveri delta, Shiva stands as Vaimurnathar, and the Thyagaraja of the shrine — Nalla Vidangar — is one of the seven dancing Thyagarajas of the delta, whose procession is said to move in the Kamala Natanam, the dance of the lotus.
History
Thiruvaimur lies in the Kaveri delta near Thiruthuraipoondi, in the deep temple country of the river's lower reaches. Its temple to Shiva as Vaimurnathar is a Paadal Petra Sthalam sung in the Tevaram, remembered as the place where the child-saint Sambandar received the lord's grace, its stone shrines of the Chola age. The temple is one of the Sapta Vidanga Sthalams, and its Thyagaraja is honoured as Nalla Vidangar.
Architecture
Built in the Dravidian manner, the temple holds Shiva as Vaimurnathar in its sanctum, with the Somaskanda Thyagaraja — Shiva with Uma and the child Skanda — worshipped as the uncarved Vidanga and carried as the processional lord. Pillared halls open before the sanctum in the quiet delta manner of the Chola and later ages.
Legends
The Sapta Vidanga temples share the legend of the uncarved Thyagaraja images, worshipped in the Somaskanda form and each dancing its own dance in procession. At Thiruvaimur the Thyagaraja is Nalla Vidangar, and his procession is said to move in the Kamala Natanam, the swaying dance likened to a lotus in the breeze.
Festivals
The temple keeps the festivals of Shiva and the processions of the Vidangar through the year, with the days of Sambandar and the other Nayanmar saints kept with devotion, and the procession of the dancing Thyagaraja at the heart of its celebration.
The Experience
Thiruvaimur rewards the pilgrim with a quiet delta shrine and one of the seven dancing Thyagarajas, in a place hallowed by the memory of the child-saint Sambandar. It joins the other Vidanga shrines of the delta into the single pilgrimage of the seven dances.