Darasuram is located 3 kilometres from Kumbakonam in the Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. The town is known for the Airavateswara temple constructed by the Rajaraja Chola II in the 12th century AD. The temple is a recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage monument. The earliest records of the temple mention the name of the town as Rajarajapuram. It is believed that this name might have been corrupted to Darasuram with the passage of time.
The Temples at Thanjavur, Gangaikondacholapuram and Darasuram were built by the Cholas between the 10th and 12th centuries and have a lot of similarities. The grandeur of chola architecture is most evident at the Darasuram temple. It is a well presented temple and although slightly of the tourist trail well worth a visit. Here you can see the musical stone stairs that produce metallic notes when struck. The Temple has recently been restored and is being maintained by the archeological survey of India.
The legend is that Airavata, the white elephant of Indra, worshipped Lord Siva in this temple and so did the King of Death, Yama. Tradition has it that the presiding deity Airavateswarar cured Yama himself .Yama was suffering under a Rishi's curse from and had a burning sensation all over his body. Yama took a bath in the sacred tank and was cured of the burning sensation. Since then the tank is known as Yamateertham. It gets its supply of fresh water from the river Kaveri and is 228 feet in width. Pilgrims make a point to bathe in the tank. In the recent past Raja Raja Chola and Karikala Chola worshipped the Siva Lingam in this temple. On the temple walls these inscriptions are given, from which it is seen that the temple was known in those days as Raja Rajeswararn and Raja Rajapuram.