Sapta Vidanga Sthalams — the Seven Dancing Thyagarajas of the Kaveri Delta
சப்த விடங்க தலங்கள்
The Sapta Vidanga Sthalams are seven temples of the Kaveri delta where Shiva is worshipped as Thyagaraja in the Somaskanda form — the lord with the Goddess Uma and the child Skanda. In each, the processional Thyagaraja is an uncarved image, a Vidanga ("not chiselled"), said in legend to have been given by the lord to the kings of old; and each Vidanga is held to move in its own distinctive dance when carried in procession. The seven are Thiruvarur, whose Vidhi Vidangar dances the Ajapa Natanam; Nagapattinam, the Nagara Vidangar; Thirukaravasal, the Adhi Vidangar; Thirukkuvalai, the Avani Vidangar; Thiruvaimur, the Nalla Vidangar; Thirunallar, the Sundara Vidangar; and Vedaranyam by the sea, the Bhuvani Vidangar. From Thiruvarur inland to Vedaranyam at the river's mouth, the seven bind the temple towns of the delta into a single pilgrimage of the dancing Thyagaraja.