Suryanar Kovil or Suryanar temple is a hindu temple dedicated to the deity Hindu Sun God (Surya). It is located near a small town Aduthurai in Thanjavur district of TamilNadu. This temple houses the deities Suryanar, the Sun and his consorts Ushadevi & Pratyusha devi.
The temple also has seperate shrines for the other eight planet gods(Navagraha). The temple is considered one of the nine Navagraha temples in TamilNadu. It is one of the few historic temples of Sun and is the only temple that houses all the planetary deities.
This is a stonework structure built during the ruling period of Kulottunga Choladeva(1060-1118 CE) in the 11th century and some later additions were done from the Vijayanagara period. It was constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture with a five layered rajagopuram, a gateway tower and a granite wall surrounding all the shrines of the temple.
As per Hindu legend, sage Kalava was suffering from skin disease and was very sick. He prayed to the nine planet gods which were called Navagrahas. The planets were pleased by his devotion cured his disease. Lord Brahma, was angered as he felt planets have no powers to fulfill devotees wishes. He cursed the nine planets to suffer from leprosy(a kind of skin disease) and were sent down to earth. After the deep prayers to lord Shiva by the planets, Shiva appeared to them and said that the place belonged to them and they would have to offer blessings to the devotees worshipping them from the place. This is the only temple with seperate shrines of each planet god.
Thirumangalakudi is the nearest bus stop to the temple at a distance of around 1.5 KM. You can reach the temple from bus stand by taking a local taxi or local auto from bus stop.
