came on this interesting foot note, my learned friends to check and advise...
On the westren path are seen three figures having uam stackable sage-like appearance. And it is believed that one of them is, that of the Chola king Raja Raja, it is food for researchers as this image is so strikingly similar to the one found at the entrance of the Nritta Sabha in the Nataraja temple at Chidambaram.
source below, got quite of lot of interesting anecdotes...check out more below
Temples are sambolic of the abode of God and eventhough countless numbers of them are extent in our land they are only so many microcosms of the macrcosm the abode of milk is the cow but the nectar could be extracte only from the under through teats of this sacred animanal similarly God though transcendent is immanent in the temple and is cognizable only there in. For milleniums the Hindus have been extremely Godloving, and all over the land temples were built by the rulers, or the scions of rulers, and no wonder the poet warns us 'not to dwell in a place where a temple is non-existent'.
In the Thanjavur District studded with scores of temples the exists in Tirunallar near Karaikal, the former French territory, the ancient temple of Darbharanyeswara. This temple was visited by the Saint Tirugnana Sambandar in the 7th century A.D. who sang padigams (decadal verses) in praise of the Lord. Likewise, his contemporary Saint Tirnnavukkarasu and later, Saint Sundarar (9th century A.D.) had visited the temple and sung padigams extolling the Lord. Saint Arunagirinathar (15th century A.D.) had also visited it and sung hymns included in his monumental work Tiruppugazh.
THE PACCHAI PADIGAM
It is unique glory of the Tirunallar temple that it possesses the Pacchai Padigam which occupies a pride of place in the history of the Hindu Saivite Tamil hymnal literature. This padigam extols the virtues of the Lord and begins with the opening line Bhogamartha Poon Mulayal a pecan to the consort of Lord Darbharanyeswara. And it is said to have stood and ordeal of fire and the event leading to it is of absorbing interest and is narrated below.
It took place in the 7th century A.D, in Madurai, the capital of the Pandya Kingdom, during the reign of the celebrated Koon Pandya, also called Ninraseernedumaran. It was the time when the Jains had spread their influence and far and wide, In the Pandya Kingdom. The king had become a convert to Jainism and actively promoted its growth in his kingdom. Long all but his queen Mangaiyarkarasi and his minister Kulacchirai Nayanar - both stunch Saivaits - had embraced Jainism, forsaking the old religion.This caused immense agony to the queen and the minister who were anxious to reclaim the king and the kingdom back to the traditional religion.
The "Sambandar" + Koon Pandyan incident is very famous incident in the history of Madurai Meenakshi Temple (My home town in Madurai). Even today the same incident is depicted as drawings in the temple and one of the temple activities is to do the same Pooja what Sambandar did and the sacred ash is kept in the temple just below the pictures.
Another important thing is that the characters of the incident Koon Pandyan (Nedumaran), Mangayarkarassi and Kulachiryar are coming in our Kalki's "Sivakamiyin Sampatham" where there is a short history of how Nedumaran became a strong Jainism follower initially.
The story of Madurai and Meenakshi Temple is equally thrilling, interesting and exciting like our Cholas and P.S. The temple has seen various kings, kingdoms and miracles. I will share with some these incidents.