Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur
Kanjanur, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India
Also known as: Agniswarar Temple, Kanjanur
- Deities
- Agneeswarar (Shiva), Shukra (Venus)
- Traditions
- shaiva
- Worship status
- active
- Darshan hours
- Varies by temple and season; consult the temple's own trust/devasthanam for the current daily schedule before visiting.
- Best time to visit
- October to March for cooler weather; Fridays, associated with Venus, are considered especially significant for worship here.
- How to reach
- Kanjanur is about 18 km northeast of Kumbakonam in Thiruvidaimarudur taluk, Thanjavur district, on the northern bank of the Kaveri river; reachable by road, with Kumbakonam the nearest railhead.
Location
Search for "Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur" on Google MapsThis temple's exact coordinates aren't confirmed yet, so the link above searches by name and city rather than pointing to a verified spot.
Agneeswarar Temple, in Kanjanur village on the northern bank of the Kaveri river some 18 km northeast of Kumbakonam, is the Navagraha shrine associated with Shukra, or Venus, within Tamil Nadu’s nine-temple planetary circuit centered on the Cauvery delta. As at most of the other Navagraha sites, Shiva is the temple’s principal deity, worshipped here as Agneeswarar, with the Shukra shrine maintained as a subsidiary sanctum drawing devotees seeking favorable influence over prosperity, relationships, and material well-being, the domains traditionally associated with Venus in Hindu astrology.
Little temple-specific historical detail could be confirmed during verification: general sources describe most of the Navagraha temples other than Suryanar Kovil as older Shivalayas, roughly datable to the 7th-9th centuries, that separately acquired their planetary association over time, but no source consulted gave a dynasty, founding century, or origin legend specific to Kanjanur itself. This entry is therefore presented as provisional, confirmed only in its location and its role within the wider Navagraha pilgrimage tradition, pending further independent sourcing on the temple’s own history.
Sources
- oral tradition: As at the other Navagraha temples, the shrine's sanctity is explained through the general Puranic account of Shukra (Venus) among the nine planetary deities receiving a place to grant blessings to devotees; no temple-specific founding legend could be independently confirmed during this verification pass.
- historical record: Cross-checked against Wikipedia's articles on Kanjanur and on Navagraha temples: confirms Kanjanur village lies on the northern bank of the Kaveri river about 18 km northeast of Kumbakonam in Thiruvidaimarudur taluk, Thanjavur district; that the Agneeswarar (also spelled Agniswarar) Temple there is one of Tamil Nadu's nine Navagraha temples of the Cauvery delta, housing the shrine for Shukra (Venus); and the general observation, from the Navagraha temples overview article, that most of these nine temples (apart from Suryanar Kovil, built specifically for Navagraha worship) are older Shivalayas dating roughly to the 7th-9th centuries that separately acquired their planetary association. Neither article provided temple-specific architectural, dynastic, or founding-date detail for Kanjanur beyond this.
- historical record: Re-verification pass (2026): re-fetched Wikipedia's Kanjanur article; it still contains only the location and Navagraha/Shukra identification recorded above, with no construction period, dynasty, inscription, architectural, or festival-date detail for this specific temple. No dedicated 'Agneeswarar Temple, Kanjanur' Wikipedia article could be found (a direct lookup returned no page). The entry's provisional status and review flag are retained as still genuinely unresolved rather than closed on the basis of a source with no temple-specific content.
For review
- Sourcing on this specific temple is thin: available sources confirm its location and its role as the Shukra/Venus shrine within the Navagraha circuit but give no dynasty, century, consort name, or founding legend specific to Kanjanur. This entry should be treated as provisional pending a source with temple-specific historical detail.