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 After taking the holy bath, I took the opportunity to explore in and around the fascinating town. Kumbakonam is a temple town and consists of hundreds of temples. However, the more famous temples in the town, which I visited, are Shree Nageswara temple,
Kumbeshwara temple, Viswanathar temple, Sarangapani temple and Ramaswamy temple. All these temples and their chief deities are mentioned in the scriptures in the form of poetry written by the holy saints. The saint poets belonging to the Shaivite sect are known as Nayanmars and those belonging to the Vaishnavite sect are known as Alwars. The town of Kumbakonam is famous for the beautiful sculptures of the Chola period to be seen at Shree Nageshwar temple. It is also equally famous for the Gopuram (tower) on the main gate of Shree Sarangpani temple, which depicts the carved statues of the dancers in various dance poses of Bharat Natayam.
 The Ramaswamy temple was constructed by Maharaj Vijaya Ragunath Naicker of the Naik dynasty and dedicated to Lord Rama in 1620. Here one can see Lord Rama in the 'Parama Bhramma Tatva' form. The sculptures in this temple tell the stories of the various kings of Tanjavur. The temple also boasts of a rare sculpture of Hanuman, as a student of music, holding a veena in his hands. All this is amply shows that Kumbakonam was and is a seat of art, culture and music. Other famous temples built by the Cholas in this region are the temples of Darasuram and Thirubuvana Vishwesvaran. The original name of Darasuram was Rajarajapuram, which later got corrupted into Darasuram. Raja Raja-II of the Chola dynasty constructed this temple in the 12th century. The temple is an example of ‘Shiromani’ temples of the Chola periods. No pilgrim (Yagi) is supposed to depart from this place without visiting this temple.
 The famed Thirubuvaneswarar temple is located in the village of Thirubuvanam. This temple was also constructed in the 12th century by the Chola king Kulothunga Chola-II and is also known as the Thirubuvana Veera Deva temple. This temple has been constructed on the lines of the Brahadeeswarar temples of Thanjavur. The idols of this temple shrine as if they were made out of metal. The silk saris of Thirubuvanam are very famous like the Kancheepuram silk saris for their design and workmanship throughout India. One can purchase silk saris from both Kumbakonam and
Thirubuvanam.
 Swamimalai is yet another centre of art. The artisans referred to, as Sthapathis have inhabited the place for thousands of years. Generations after generations, the art of sculpting has been transmitted from either father to son or from guru to shishya. The credit goes to the Sthapathees, for keeping alive the tradition of (Kasyakala) metal sculpture. This art definitely received a setback with the decline of princely India but has been kept alive by the few families of traditional sculptors. The icons made at Swamimalai in bronzes, brass and Panchloha (five metals) are adorning all the major temples and leading museums in the world. As per the religious tradition the Utsavamoorthy (the festival deity), which is taken around the town, is made out of five metals. These are gold, silver, iron, copper and
zinc. Only when an icon contains all these metals does it become fit for worship.
 The process of creating these icons is very intriguing and is known as the lost wax method. The craftsman first makes the idol out of wax. The wax model is plastered with moulding clay/mud on all the sides. This is then placed on fire to allow the wax to melt away and in this manner a hollow mould for the statue is prepared. The molten metal is filled into this mould. After cooling, the mud is scrapped off and the beautiful metal icon emerges before the eyes. The sculpture then chisels out the finer feature of the idol after which it is ready to be appreciated.
(To be continued next week…)
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