A narrow road hemmed in by paddy fields detaches the village from the hurly-burly of the Kumbakonam-Karaikal Road. A pair of peacocks leisurely cross the road and enter paddy fields covered with the remnants of the stalk after the harvest. The pond in front of the Umamaheshwarar temple has dried up. Only the chirping of birds, particularly the train rattle of peacocks, disturbs the eerie silence of Konerirajapuram in Mayiladuthurai district, which has a unique place in the Tamil Bhakti Movement, iconography, wall paintings, and the carnatic music.
Referred to as Thirunallam in the inscriptions and in the hymns of Saivite saints Thirunavukkarasar and Thirugnanasambandar, the temple in Konerirajapuram, constructed by Sembiyan Madevi, the grandmother of Raja Raja Chola, the greatest among the Chola King, is also the abode of the tallest Nataraja idol, made of bronze.
