Sometime in the early 19th century, Muthuswami Dikshitar came to Thanjavur for an extended stay. Legend suggests that he may have visited even earlier, according to his composition “Nabhomani chandragni nayanam” (Nabhomani raga, Triputa tala), which is believed to have been composed on the occasion of the consecration of the Brihadiswara temple during the reign of Serfoji II. “Sarabhendra samsevita charanam” seems to indicate this. According to Thanjavur Saraswathi Mahal library records, the consecration took place in 1801, which proves Dikshitar’s presence in the region.
The composer’s longer stay was teaching music for the Thanjavur Quartet. According to Sangita Sampradaya Pradarsini Subbaram Dikshitar, only two of the four brothers, Ponniah and Vadivelu, were disciples of Muthuswami Dikshitar. Today, however, scholars accept that all four trained under him. Since Vadivelu was born in 1810 and would have been around five when he began learning from Dikshitar, we can assume that the composer came to Thanjavur around 1815.
During his stay, Dikshitar embarked on what can be described as a raganga raga project. As is known, he followed the asampurna mela/raganga raga scheme, where a raga can be considered a superior scale if it has all seven notes, not necessarily in a linear order or both ascending and descending. It was the scholar V. Raghavan who identified most of the compositions in this collection and the temples in and around Thanjavur mentioned in the texts. Of the 72 raaganga ragas, it has 69 songs, all based on Thanjavur temples. Many of them are in the Great Temple and Shrine of Bangaru Kamakshi.
Entrance to Kodandarama Temple on the banks of Vennar in Thanjavur. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
One of the compositions is about Lord Rama – “Kodandaramam” in raga Kokilaravam (11th raganga raga in Adi tala). In keeping with most raganga compositions, this one too is set in pallavi/anupallavi format and thus has no charanam. In recent times, this song has been attributed to the Rama temple in Vaduvur, famous for its beautiful utsava deity. But V. Raghavan clearly states that it was composed at the Kothandarama temple on the banks of the Vennar in Thanjavur.
There is logic in what he says because the farthest temple that has a composition in the raganga raga scheme is the Dharmasamvardhini shrine at Tiruvarur. All the temples in the set come under the management of the Thanjavur Palace Devasthanam. However, the Vaduvur shrine was never part of it, so its association with the song is unlikely. Having accepted V. Raghavan’s premise, the task is to identify the temple he meant.
Muthuswami Dikshitar. | Photo Credit: Illustration by Soumyadip Sinha
The shrine in question is extremely picturesque, not far from the famous Punnainallur Mariamman Temple. The Vennar flows nearby, but the larger body of water nearby is Samuthiram Lake. Due to the flat terrain of Thanjavur, the temple gopuram and Mariamman shrine can be seen from a long distance. The Kothandarama temple is reached by a road that passes the now-destroyed Rani Mandapam, once a pleasure pavilion for Maratha queens.
The Vaduvur temple was built by Pratapasimha (1740-1763). Interestingly, his queen Yamunamba endowed another Rama temple at Needamangalam whose presiding deity, Santaramaswami, was praised by Dikshitar in the kriti ‘Santana ramaswaminam’ in the raga Hindola Vasantam. In these compositions, Dikshitar refers to the kshetra as Yamunambapuri, indicating the queen’s patronage.
The stairs lead to the entrance arch of the Kodandarama temple in Vaduvur. A rectangular temple structure comprising a sanctum, a mukhamandapam and a spacious circulation corridor. A colonnaded porch with a raised platform that runs all the way around and allows devotees to sit and witness the temple festivals. It also serves as a vahana mandapam.
Legend has it that the Utsava idols of the temple — Rama, Lakshmana, Sita and Anjaneya — were discovered in a field, leading to the construction of the shrine. Moolavar is a magnificent standing Kodandarama with Lakshmana, Sita and most unusually Sugriva. Hanuman, in veera position, has a shrine facing south. There is another idol of Hanuman outside this shrine. Garuda faces the main Rama. The priests here say that Rama’s moola is made of Salagrama stone brought from Nepal, although it is more likely that it is made of stucco, the core of which is Salagramas.
The serene environment of the temple makes you imagine that Dikshitar is sitting here composing kritis. This means that the composition does not provide any details of the kshetra, and so the argument that it cannot be at Vaduvur is equally valid for this temple. But then none of the ragang compositions provide any local details. Regardless of whether the song was composed here, the temple is worth a visit with its exquisite carvings and ornate garbagrihas.
Published – 25 March 2026 17:03 IST
