Hindu temples of Kumbakonam  Kumbakonam ( ) is a city and a special grade municipality in the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located 40 kilometres from Thanjavur and 273 kilometres from Chennai. It is the headquarters of the Kumbakonam taluk of Thanjavur district. Kumbakonam is a temple town with many Hindu temples located in and around it. Majority of the temples are dedicated to Lord Vishnu and Lord Shiva.  12 Shiva temples are connected with Mahamaham festival which happens once in 12 years in Kumbakonam. They are Kasi Viswanathar Temple, Kumbeswarar Temple, Someswarar Temple, Nageswara Temple, Ekambareswarar Temple, Gowthameswarar Temple, Abimukeswarar Temple, Kambatta Visvanathar Temple, Banapuriswarar Temple, Kahahasteeswarar Temple, Koteeswarar Temple, and Amirthakalasanathar Temple. Of these twelve, first ten temples temples are located in Kumbakonam town itself. Likewise five Vishnu temples are connected with Mahamaham. They are Sarangapani Temple, Chakrapani Temple, Ramaswamy Temple, Rajagopalaswamy Temple, and Varahaperumal Temple. All these five temples are found in Kumbakonam. Kashi Vishwanathar Temple is situated very close to the Mahamaham tank and another one temple is placed in Solaiyappan street. Here the main deity is Kashi Vishwanathar/Vishalakshi. The important and peculiar point about this temple is the navakanniyar, which are the 9 holy rivers. It is believed that the mahamaham function is closely associated with the 9 presiding deities namely Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, Saraswati, Kaveri, Godavari, Tungabhadra, Krishna and Sarayu. Another important part is the sthala lingam present in the southern part of the temple. It was worshipped by Ravana and is believed to grow with ages. The temple can be accessed by alighting at the Head post office bus stop. Adi Kumbheshwarar temple is the major one among the Shaivite temples and located in the centre of Kumbhakonam at Big Bazaar Street.