Sayavaneswarar Temple

The Sayavaneswarar Temple or Chaayaavaneswarar is a Hindu temple situated in the village of Thirusaikkadu [or Thiruchaykkadu or Chaayavanam] near Kaveripoompattinam or Puhar, Mayiladuthurai in Mayiladuthurai district of Tamil Nadu, India. The presiding deity is the Hindu god Shiva. The temple dates from the time of the Medieval Cholas. The Saivite Nayanmars have sung of the temple in their songs.

Sayavaneswarar Temple
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism
District	Mayiladuthurai
Deity	Sayavaneswarar(Shiva)
Location
Location	Tamil Nadu, India
State	Tamil Nadu
Country	India
Location in Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	11°7′50″N 79°47′24″E
Architecture
Type	Dravidian architecture

The Temple

Tiruvaiyaru, Mayiladuthurai, Thiruvidaimarudur, Thiruvenkadu, Chayavanam and Srivanchiyam are considered equivalents of Kasi. Like in Kasi, where the city is centered around Kashi Vishwanath Temple, the temples in these towns along the banks of river Cauvery, namely Aiyarappar temple in Thiruvaiyaru, Mahalingeswarar temple in Thiruvidaimarudur, Mayuranathaswamy temple in Mayiladuthurai, Chayavaneswarar temple in Sayavanam, Swetharanyeswarar temple in Thiruvenkadu, Srivanchinadhaswamy Koil in Srivanchiyam are the centerpieces of the towns.^[1][2]

Idol Theft

An idol of Standing Sambandar was stolen sometime between 1965 and 1975 (There is documentary proof from 1958 by the French Institute of Pondicherry) and was traced by the Idol Wing of the Tamil Nadu Criminal Investigation Department (IW-CID) with the help of volunteer-collective India Pride Project to National Gallery of Australia in Australia and was successfully recovered in 2022.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

Literary mention

Tirugnanasambandar describes the feature of the deity as:^[9]

வேத நாவினர் வெண்பளிங் கின்குழைக் காதர்

ஓத நஞ்சணி கண்ட ருகந்துரை கோயில்
மாதர் வண்டுதன் காதல்வண் டாடிய புன்னைத்

தாது கண்ட பொழின்மறைந் தூடுசாய்க்காடே.

Tirunavukkarasar describes the feature of the deity as:^[10]

புயங்கமைஞ் ஞான்கும் பத்து மாயகொண் டரக்க னோடிச்

சிவன்றிரு மலையைப் பேர்க்கத் திருமலர்க் குழலி யஞ்ச
வியன்பெற வெய்தி வீழ விரல்சிறி தூன்றி மீண்டே

சயம்பெற நாம மீந்தார் சாய்க்காடு மேவி னாரே.

References

1. Venkatraman, Sekar (2019). Temples of Forgotten Glory: A Wide Angle Exposition. Notion Press. p. 172. ISBN 9781645876250.
2. Ayyar, P. V. Jagadisa (1993). South Indian Shrines: Illustrated (2nd ed.). New Delhi: Asian Educational Service. p. 244. ISBN 81-206-0151-3.
3. "Bringing back our heritage: Return of Tamil Nadu Antiquities" (PDF). pib.gov.in. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
4. S., Vijay Kumar (30 March 2016). "IDs of two more idols in OZ found, time for their return". Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2023. ... missing from this report was the Sambandar which too is now stranded in Australia. An analysis of the photos published in the book 'Shadows of Gods' — jointly published by the IFP and the Pondicherry Centre of the French School of Asian Studies and released by PM Modi and French President François Hollande – shows a striking resemblance between the idol in Australia to that which IFP photographed at Sayavanam near Sirkazhi in 1958. ...
5. "National Gallery Of Australia Returns 14 Works Of Art To India" (PDF) (Press release). Canberra: National Gallery of Australila. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
6. "National Gallery of Australia returns 14 art works including Chola idols". The Hindu. 29 July 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
7. Sivarajah, Padmini (1 June 2022). "10 antiques from Tamil Nadu temples restituted". Times of India. Retrieved 19 August 2023. ... The standing Sambandar was documented by the French Institute in Puducherry as belonging to the Sayavanam temple in 1960. ...
8. "Temples get back idols returned by US, Aus". DT Next. 10 June 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2023. ... the Sambandar idol was given to the Nagapattinam Sayavaneswarar Temple. ...
9. Gnanasambandar Tevaram, II: 38: 7
10. Tirunavukkarasar Tevaram, IV: 65: 10

• Tourist Guide to Tamil Nadu. Sura Books. 2010. p. 69. ISBN 978-81-7478-177-2.