The Tyāgarāja Cult in Tamilnāḍu

Download or read book The Tyāgarāja Cult in Tamilnāḍu written by Rajeshwari Ghose and published by Motilal Banarsidass Publ.. This book was released on 1996 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Tiruvarur in the Thanjavur district of Tamilnadu was the centre of Saiva and Sakta worship from very ancient times. The Saiva cult revolved around the Tyagaraja icon enshrined in a temple bearing the name of the image. Interestingly, Tyagaraja is not the principle deity but a processional icon and is in fact an amalgam of three deities--Siva his consort Uma and their child Skanda. Tyagaraja is a Somaskanda and the first visual representation of this composite deity can be traced to the time of Pallava rule.