Description
Tiruvarur 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 principle 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.
