Thiruvaiyaaru – Aiyarappar Temple

Thiruvaiyaru is situated on the banks of the river Kaveri, 13 km fromThanjavur.

Thiruvaiyaru means Five Rivers around the city. The Five Rivers are Arisilaaru, Vennaaru, Vettaaru, Kudamuruttiyaaru and Kaaviriyaaru. Thiruvaiyaru gets its name (Thiru = Sacred; ai = five; aaru = river).

Thiruvaiyaru is more renowned for its association with Saint Thyagaraja, who, along with Muthuswami Dikshitar and Shyama Sastri, comprised the Trinity of Carnatic music.

Significance:                      

If one calls the name Aiyarappa loudly from a particular spot in the temple, it echoes seven times.

Lord Shiva in the temple is a swayambumurthi.

Thiruvaiyaru is considered as holy as Varanasi and bathing in the Cauvery here is as guaranteed to rid devotees of sins as bathing in the Ganges.

Saptha Sthana Festival

When Lord Panchanatheeswara of Thiruvaiyaru decided to conduct the marriage between Nandhi devar and Swayasambihai at Thirumanappadi nearby on the Punarpoosa day of the tamil month Panguni, He selected many places around to prepare things for the marriage. He selected

• Thiruvedhikkudi to get the Vedic Brahmins
• Thiruppazhanam to get fruits
• Thiruchotruthurai to arrange food
• Thirukkandiyur for Kandi (ornaments)
• Thiruppoonthuruthi for fruits and garlands
• and Thiruneithanam (Thillai sthanam) to get ghee for homams

As a thanks giving gesture, Lord Panchanatheeswara along with His ambal Dharmasamvardhani, decorated in a Palanquin, visits all these places along with His newly wedded couple, Nandhikeswara and Suyasambika. The deities of the six places welcome them and join them in the procession and go upto Thillai sthanam and return to their respective places on the next day. It’s a marvelous festival that should be witnessed atleast once in a lifetime and only the blessed people will get a chance for that

The sapthasthanam festival is conducted at Tiruvaiyaru during April every year. Hundreds of people witness the convergence of seven glass palanquins carrying principal deities of respective temples from seven places at Tiruvaiyaru. The palanquins are paraded near the car stand, the crowd witnessed the Poochorithal(flower festival) in which a doll offers flowers to the principal deities in the palanquins. After the Poochorithal, the palanquins left for their respective places. The seven temples are

Temple	Place	District
Aiyarappar temple	Thiruvaiyaru	Thanjavur
Apathsahayar Temple	Tirupazhanam	Thanjavur
Odhanavaneswarar Temple	Tiruchotruthurai	Thanjavur
Vedapuriswarar Temple	Thiruvedhikudi	Thanjavur
Kandeeswarar Temple	Thirukkandiyur	Thanjavur
Puvananathar Temple	Thirupanturuthi	Thanjavur
Neyyadiappar Temple	Tiruneithaanam	Thanjavur