Thiruvarur 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 principal 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. The concept of the Somaskanda is unique to Tamilnadu. The Cola monarchs were devotees of Tyagaraja. This book analyses the Tyagaraja Cult from three perspectives: as a religious synthesiser, socio-cultural integrator and legitimiser of the ideologies of the State.
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