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Friday, August 26, 2016

Kumarakottam Temple, Kanchipuram – Kandapuranam

Kumarakottam Temple, Kanchipuram – Kandapuranam
Kachiyappar, a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, was the priest in the Kumarakottam Temple. He composed the text Kandapuranam. The hall, the Kandapuranam Arangetra Mantapam (an outdoor pavilion) where Kachiyappar composed the text still exists in the temple complex. Peacocks flock the premises even now. Kachiyappar wrote the epic in six cantos comprising 10,346 stanzas.
It is believed that the first line of the first stanza was written by Kachiappar’s patron deity, Murugan himself. The god is also believed to have corrected the 100 stanzas written by the priest during the day. The poet took his composition to the god and rehearsed it. Even now the priests in the temple are the descendants of Kachiyappar.