Airavatesvara Temple

The Airavatesvara Temple at Darasuram, near Kumbakonam, is a UNESCO Great Living Chola Temple built by Rajaraja Chola II in the 12th century. Smaller than the Big Temple but exquisitely carved, it is famous for its stone chariot-form front mandapa and the celebrated “musical” steps.

Airavatesvara Temple, Kumbakonam
Practical guide

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Before you go to Airavatesvara Temple

Entry rules not verified for this temple. Some Hindu temples admit only Hindus, and most enforce a dress code at the door. We have not verified the rule for this particular temple, so please check before you travel — especially if you are not Hindu or are visiting from outside India.

We report each site's own published rules neutrally, and only where we can source them.

Typetemple
Nearest baseKumbakonam
DistrictThanjavur
Best timeOctober to March
Time needed45 minutes to an hour
EntryFree
Places to visit12Listed businesses85

It sits about an hour east of Thanjavur and is usually visited as a day trip from the delta or combined with Kumbakonam’s temples.

What to expect

Highlights

  • The chariot-form mandapa with wheel and horse carving.
  • The finely worked “singing” stone steps.
  • Dense Chola relief sculpture across the outer walls.
Getting there

How to visit

  • Drive from Thanjavur via Kumbakonam (about an hour); Darasuram is a short hop from Kumbakonam.
  • Combine it with other Kumbakonam-area temples to make the trip worthwhile.
  • Remove footwear before entering and confirm the midday-break timing.

Distance by road

  • Tiruchirappalli (Trichy)58 km
  • Madurai190 km
  • Puducherry170 km
  • Coimbatore215 km
  • Chennai350 km

Road km to Thanjavur; ghat roads and traffic vary — allow extra.

Timing

Best time

October to March; morning light is kind to the carvings.

Weather in Airavatesvara TempleSeasonal guide

Live forecast loads in your browser.

Today at Airavatesvara Temple
Sunrise6:03 am
Sunset6:26 pm
Golden hour best light5:26 pm–6:26 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:26 pm–6:51 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 281°
Moon tonight🌔 Waxing gibbous · 96%
South-west monsoon. June to September is the south-west monsoon in Tamil Nadu. Expect heavy showers, mostly in bursts rather than all day — carry rain cover, allow extra time for getting around, and note that ferries and open-air sites are the first things affected.

Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.

Visitor notes

  • A small footwear-minding tip is common near the gate.
  • Foreign visitors may pay a separate entry fee.
Safety

Good to know

  • Timings run in a morning and an evening session with a long midday close.
Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop

Stays, food & things to do near Airavatesvara Temple

Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Airavatesvara Temple — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.

22 places to stay near Airavatesvara Temple

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Aboorva Grand Inn
Place to stay
Top pick
Homestay
Aboorva Grand Inn

A sixteen-room air-conditioned guest house on the Kumbakonam–Thirunageswaram road, 5 km from the railway station and 1.5 km from Thirunageswaram junction. Rooms have queen beds, hot water and LED TVs; there is a shared pantry with a fridge, car parking, a separate driver washroom and CCTV on the premises. Vegetarian meals, guides and tour packages are arranged on request. Alcohol is not permitted.

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INDeco Hotels Swamimalai
Place to stay
Top pick
Heritage hotel
INDeco Hotels Swamimalai

A heritage resort built around a restored village at Thimmakudy near Swamimalai, run by INDeco Hotels, who describe it as preserving how life in a Tamil village once was rather than only its walls. The property hosts Ayurveda treatments, cultural experiences and destination weddings, and sits within reach of the Kumbakonam temple circuit.

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Rae by Tamara Kumbakonam
Place to stay
Top pick
Hotel
Rae by Tamara Kumbakonam

Formerly the Lilac Hotel and now rebranded Rae by Tamara, this is a 45-room air-conditioned hotel built for pilgrimage travel — early breakfast timings, temple guidance at the desk and pure vegetarian dining. It is positioned for the Navagraha circuit, the Mahamaham tank and the Adi Kumbeswarar and Sarangapani temples.

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Kumbha Nivas Homestay
Place to stay
Top pick
Homestay
Kumbha Nivas Homestay

A small family homestay on Karuppur Main Road with simple, clean rooms, guest use of the kitchen and meals prepared in the house. The hosts describe it as deliberately unfancy — a place to come back to after a day of temples, with the Mahamaham tank and the town's streets a short walk away.

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Raya's Grand
Place to stay
Top pick
Hotel
Raya's Grand
2.8 km · ~7 min by auto

The flagship of Raya's group of hotels, built on the western bank of the Mahamaham tank so that rooms look straight out over it. The hotel runs a fully air-conditioned function hall for weddings and receptions, and there is an EV charging station on site. Raya's describes it as star-hotel facilities at value-for-money rates.

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Raya's Inn
Place to stay
Hotel
Raya's Inn

The newest hotel in Raya's Kumbakonam chain, added to the group alongside Raya's Grand and Raya's Executive Homes. The three properties are run from one reservations desk and are pitched at different budgets, from plainer rooms up to the more exclusive ones by the Mahamaham tank.

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Raya's Executive Homes
Place to stay
Hotel
Raya's Executive Homes

Raya's mid-range property in Kumbakonam, with 48 air-conditioned and 6 non-air-conditioned rooms. Rooms carry LCD televisions, hot water kettles and complimentary bottled water; the hotel keeps a travel help desk, arranges guides and drivers on request, and shares the group's EV charging station beside Raya's Grand.

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Kingsbury Inn
Place to stay
Hotel
Kingsbury Inn

A centrally placed hotel in Kumbakonam pitching itself at travellers who want comfort within reach of the town's temples — Airavatesvara at Darasuram, Adi Kumbeswarar, Sarangapani and Kampahareswarar at Thirubuvanam are all listed on its own pages as the reason for the location.

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RAS Residency
Place to stay
Hotel
RAS Residency

A Kumbakonam hotel offering direct booking with a 15% discount off the room rate, with banquet space alongside the rooms and its own restaurants on the property. RAS runs hotels in India and the UK and publishes its guest safety policy on the same site.

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Sri Balaji Grand
Place to stay
Hotel
Sri Balaji Grand

A business-class hotel on T.S.R. Big Street in the middle of town, close enough to walk to Adi Kumbeswarar, Sarangapani and Chakrapani. Rooms are air-conditioned and the building runs on solar-heated water; there is EV charging, high-speed internet and separate space for drivers. The in-house Anandha Bhavan is pure vegetarian.

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Hotel ARK
Place to stay
Hotel
Hotel ARK

A hotel on TSR Big Street in the centre of Kumbakonam, surrounded by the town's temples. Rooms and suites are air-conditioned, and the property runs two banquet halls with a combined capacity of about 500 along with an open terrace garden. Its restaurant Moshika Bhavan is pure vegetarian.

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Hotel Lynx
Place to stay
Hotel
Hotel Lynx

Formerly Hotel Atlantis and now trading as Hotel Lynx, this is a hotel on Swamimalai Main Road at Perumandi, near Palakarai. Rooms run from single budget rooms up to suites with a separate living area; the hotel positions itself for pilgrims and families working through the Kumbakonam temples.

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Temple Tales Home Stay
Place to stay
Homestay
Temple Tales Home Stay

A homestay at Sakkottai on the edge of Kumbakonam, run for pilgrims working the temple circuit. The hosts cook South Indian meals for guests and put together retreat packages around the town's temples rather than only renting rooms.

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Kumbakonam Home Stay
Place to stay
Homestay
Kumbakonam Home Stay

Serviced apartments near Kasiraman Street let by the night — a two-bedroom air-conditioned apartment, a one-bedroom family suite and larger units, with continuous water, wi-fi and televisions in every room. The owners describe it as guest houses and cottages set in green surroundings and aimed at pilgrimage groups.

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Jeyam Residency
Place to stay
Hotel
Jeyam Residency

A budget hotel on Dr. Moorthy Road near Naal Road, the four-road junction that acts as the gateway into Kumbakonam. Rooms range from standard air-conditioned doubles to a family suite sleeping six, and the front desk is staffed around the clock. The railway station and bus stand are both close.

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Hotel Sri Venkadaramana Towers
Place to stay
Hotel
Hotel Sri Venkadaramana Towers

A 22-room hotel about 1.3 km from the Mahamaham tank, with its own car park and a Navagraha temple package sold from the front desk. Shrathas Restaurant is roughly a thirteen-minute walk away.

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Viruksham Homestay
Place to stay
Homestay
Viruksham Homestay

A 3,000 sq ft house at Marudanallur on the Kumbakonam–Mannargudi state highway towards Alangudi, 4.5 km from the railway station. Six identical air-conditioned rooms with bamboo king-size beds and attached bathrooms open off a reception hall and a traditional central mutram courtyard. Rates are quoted all-inclusive on a twin-sharing basis.

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The Royal Retreat
Place to stay
Serviced apartment
The Royal Retreat

Serviced rooms near the Mahamaham tank, let nightly on a room-only tariff with a 24-hour checkout subject to availability. Reception is staffed round the clock, wi-fi runs through the rooms and common areas, and children under six stay free without an extra bed.

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Mayapuri Amira
Place to stay
Hotel
Mayapuri Amira

A 33-room hotel with air-conditioned suites, separate vegetarian and non-vegetarian restaurants, a gym, a swimming pool, an ayurvedic spa, a bar, a boutique and banquet halls for functions — the fullest set of facilities of any hotel in the town.

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KPS Resort
Place to stay
Resort
KPS Resort

A resort near Sakkottai with premium villas built in a traditional Kerala style, each wrapped by a corridor like a temple's inner walkway. The resort runs guided Navagraha circuit tours and customised pilgrimage packages with pick-up and drop, and is placed for Adi Kumbeswarar, Sarangapani, Thirunageswaram and Swamimalai.

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Mantra Koodam
Place to stay
Resort
Mantra Koodam

CGH Earth's Kumbakonam property, built around village life rather than apart from it — guests are taken to the ancient temples, through Kumbakonam village and to the local craftsmen who work there. It is the group's Tamil Nadu counterpart to their Kerala backwater and Fort Kochi houses.

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Shiv Sakthi Villa
Place to stay
Villa
Shiv Sakthi Villa

A villa on the Kumbakonam–Thanjavur bypass at Valayapettai let to one group at a time, sleeping up to fifteen. It has twin fresh-water pools run without added chemicals, a sprinkler garden for dinner outdoors, a children's play area laid on river sand, a party lawn, a mini kitchen and a barbecue. Pets are welcome, and there are resident animals on the property.

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Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.

Ranked

The best of Kumbakonam, ranked

Airavatesvara Temple sits in Kumbakonam, and these rank everything verified across the town rather than this one spot — built from the same listings shown above, ordered by the strength of the source evidence behind each entry rather than by anyone's star score. Every card shows how many places are really on it. Nobody pays to appear.

Across the whole of Kumbakonam

Ranked guides

Top experiences around Kumbakonam

3 more Kumbakonam experiences worth building a day around, each with a full guide, how to reach it and what sits next to it. Airavatesvara Temple is left off — you are already on it — and so is anything already shown in the nearby list further down, so nothing here repeats.

templeGangaikonda Cholapuram

A UNESCO-listed Great Living Chola Temple raised by Rajendra Chola I around 1035 CE to mark his Ganges campaign. It lies in Ariyalur district, on the Chola circuit north-east of Kumbakonam, and is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India.

templeOppiliappan Temple

The Oppiliappan (Uppiliappan) Perumal temple at Thirunageswaram near Kumbakonam is one of the 108 Divya Desams, dedicated to Vishnu with his consort Bhumi Devi. By tradition it is the one Divya Desam where the offering (prasadam) is prepared entirely without salt, giving the deity the name Oppiliappan (uppu-illa, without salt), and the site is linked in lore to the sage Markandeya.

templeMahalingaswamy Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur

The Mahalingeswarar (Mahalingaswamy) temple at Thiruvidaimarudur near Kumbakonam is a large and historically important Shiva temple, traditionally regarded as the central Madhyarjuna among the great Arjuna (Marudur) Shiva temples of the Cauvery delta. It carries extensive Chola-and-later architecture and hosts major festivals.

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Before you go

Airavatesvara Temple — at a glance

TimingsRoughly 8:00 AM–12:00 PM and 4:00 PM–8:00 PM (some sources vary; indicative — confirm on site).
Best timeOctober–March

Entry: Free for Indian visitors; a small fee (~₹50) may apply for foreign visitors (indicative).

Getting here

How to reach Airavatesvara Temple

At Darasuram near Kumbakonam, ~35–40 km east of Thanjavur. Nearest railway: Kumbakonam (~5 km). Nearest airport: Tiruchirappalli (TRZ).

Getting around Airavatesvara Temple

We have not assessed physical access at this place yet. Across India, step-free routes, handrails and accessible toilets are the exception rather than the rule, and pavements are often interrupted — if step-free access matters to you, contact the site or a local operator before committing to the trip.

If you need help at Airavatesvara Temple
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).

Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.

Nearby

What’s near Airavatesvara Temple

templeAdi Kumbeswarar Temple 1.9 km · 24 min walk · straight line
templeRamaswamy Temple 2.1 km · 26 min walk · straight line
templeSarangapani Temple 2.3 km · 29 min walk · straight line
templeChakrapani Temple 2.5 km · 31 min walk · straight line
templeNageswaran Temple 2.6 km · ~6 min by auto · straight line
damMahamaham Tank 2.6 km · ~7 min by auto · straight line
templePatteeswaram Durga Temple 2.8 km · ~7 min by auto · straight line
heritageThanjavur Bronze Icon Craft 3.3 km · ~8 min by auto · straight line
templeSwamimalai Murugan Temple 3.5 km · ~9 min by auto · straight line
templeThiruppurambiyam Sakthivaneswarar Temple 6.6 km · ~17 min by auto · straight line
templeNaganathaswamy Temple, Thirunageswaram 8.1 km · ~14 min by cab · straight line
templeGarbarakshambigai Temple 8.2 km · ~14 min by cab · straight line

All 12 places to visit in Kumbakonam →

On the map

Where Airavatesvara Temple is

Good to know

Airavatesvara Temple — frequently asked

When is the best time to visit Airavatesvara Temple?

October to March; morning light is kind to the carvings.

What are the entry fee and timings at Airavatesvara Temple?

Entry: Free for Indian visitors; a small fee (~₹50) may apply for foreign visitors (indicative).. Timings: Roughly 8:00 AM–12:00 PM and 4:00 PM–8:00 PM (some sources vary; indicative — confirm on site).. Fees and timings are indicative — confirm on site before you travel.

How do I reach Airavatesvara Temple?

Drive from Thanjavur via Kumbakonam (about an hour); Darasuram is a short hop from Kumbakonam. Combine it with other Kumbakonam-area temples to make the trip worthwhile. Remove footwear before entering and confirm the midday-break timing.

How much time do I need for Airavatesvara Temple?

45 minutes to an hour.

What else is near Airavatesvara Temple?

Nearby you can pair Adi Kumbeswarar Temple (1.9 km), Ramaswamy Temple (2.1 km), Sarangapani Temple (2.3 km), Chakrapani Temple (2.5 km).

What should I know before visiting Airavatesvara Temple?

Timings run in a morning and an evening session with a long midday close.

Read before you go

Airavatesvara Temple guides, stories & itineraries

Stories & history of Airavatesvara Temple

Written about Airavatesvara Temple itself — its history, its legends and the arguments about them.

Around Kumbakonam

Airavatesvara Temple sits in Kumbakonam, so these cover the streets, buildings and surroundings around it.

Tamil Nadu-wide guides & itineraries

Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Tamil Nadu.

See all 25 Thanjavur guides & stories →

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