Thiruvarur – History
The historic name of the town
was Aaroor (Arur) and it finds mention in the 7th century Saiva
canonical work, Thevaram. The term Thiru is added to all temple
cities that are mostly revered by the verses of Thevaram, which is the
case of Arur becoming Thiruvarur. Another name of Thiruvarur is
Kamalaalayasetra, meaning the "holy place that is an abode of
lotuses"; the town is also referred so due to the presence of the Kamalalayam
tank and the temple deity, Kamalambigai.
As per folk legend, Thiruvarur is mentioned as the
capital town of a legendary Chola king, Manu Neethi Cholan, who killed his own son to provide justice to a cow. Thiruvarur
was one of the five traditional capitals of the Chola empire and the
history of town revolves around the Thygarajaswamy temple. Thiruvarur is
mentioned in the Shaiva canonical work, Thevaram by Thirugnana Sambandar, Thirunavukkarasar
and Sundarar, the foremost Saivite saints of 7th–8th century CE and classified
as Padal Petra Sthalam.
Thirunavukkarasar mentions several traditions of the
temple like Margazhi Aathirai Vizha, Panguni Uttirai
Perunaal and Veedhivitakanin Veedhi Panni. The granite structure of
the temple was first constructed by Aditya
Chola I (871–907 CE) in the 9th
century CE and revamped during the reign of Rajaraja
Chola I (985–1014 CE). The temple was
upgraded and rebuilt with stone by Rajendra
Chola I (1012–44 CE). The temple has
inscriptions from both the emperors, later Cholas and Pandyas.
The temple is believed to be an inspiration for Rajaraja
Chola to build the Brihadeeswarar Temple, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Inscriptions from the temple indicate Thiruvarur as
the capital of Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120 CE), during which the town emerged
a centre of Saivism. After the fall of Cholas during the reign of Rajendra
Chola II in the 13th century CE, the
town was caught under a power struggle between Pandyas and Hoysalas.
The royal patronage continued and the town flourished as
a cultural centre during the rule of the Nayaks, Vijayanagar kings and Marathas. During the period of Marathas, the town became a
temporary home to the Nataraja of Chidambaram temple. The town was briefly
captured by French troops led by Lally (1702–66 CE) in 1759 CE. The Thyagarajar temple
was ransacked in a failed attempt to discover hidden treasure. During the
attempt, six brahmins of the temple, suspected to be spies of the
British, were killed in an encounter. The province and Tanjore were
annexed by British after the failed attempt of the French to attack the King of
Tanjore.
During the British
Raj, the town was termed Tiruvalur, Tiruvaloor and
Thiruvalur. After independence, Thiruvarur continued to be a part of the
Thanjavur district and Nagapattinam district till 1991 and 1997 respectively. Thiruvarur
was made the headquarters of Tiruvarur district when it was carved out of
Nagapattinam district in 1997. As per the district and municipality websites,
the district has the spelling "Tiruvarur", while the town has it as
"Thiruvarur".