The Airavatesvara Temple in Darasuram, a suburb of Kumbakonam, is a Shiva temple in the Chola style. The Chola king Rajaraja II, who ruled from 1146 to 1172, built it, and the article gives 1166 as completion. It is part of the UNESCO-listed Great Living Chola Temples group. The article names no architect.
The main temple sits on a 23 by 63 meter plinth, inside a compound wall of about 351 by 230 feet (107 by 70 m). The sanctum is a 39-foot (12 m) square, and its vimana rises 79 feet (24 m). The hall has 48 pillars in six rows, and the porch is shaped like a chariot with stone wheels and horses. The steps are said to produce musical notes.
The temple was once much larger, with seven courts, and only one survives. The article does not settle the cause, listing Pandya attacks and Delhi Sultanate raids in 1311, 1314 and 1327.
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