What is the sthala katha — the legend — of Suryanar Kovil?

High medieval · Hindu · India

Suryanar Kovil

சூரியனார் கோவில்

Suryanar Kovil, Thanjavur dist, Tamil Nadu · 11.0297°, 79.4778°

Surya (Suryanar), with consorts Ushadevi and Pratyusha DeviCholaDravidianNavagraha

Sacred since

1060 CE

first attestation / structure

Standing structure

11th–12th c. (Kulothunga Chola I)

Chola

History & significance

The one Navagraha temple of Tamil Nadu whose principal shrine belongs to the Sun rather than to Shiva, raised under Kulothunga Chola I as the Kulottungachola-Marttandalaya and enlarged in the Vijayanagara period. It carries a five-tiered rajagopuram and is now run by the state Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department.

Sthala katha — the legend

Legend holds that the nine planetary deities, struck with leprosy by Brahma's curse and banished to Vellurukku Vanam, were allowed by Shiva to bless devotees from this spot.

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