Uthira Pasupatheeswarar Temple, Tiruchenkattankudi –
History
The Shiva temple was known as Siruthonda Ganapatishvara,
named over Siruthondar. The name "Ganapatishvara", which also gives
the town his alternate name "Ganapatishvaram", denotes Shiva as
"Lord of Ganesha" and alludes to the legend that Ganesha killed a demon
called Gajamukhasuran and then worshipped his father Shiva here.
The icon of Vatapi Ganapathi is currently enshrined in a
secondary shrine in the temple complex of Uthrapathiswaraswamy Temple. As per
oral tradition, the icon of Vatapi Ganapathi was brought booty from the Chalukyan capital of Vatapi (presently known as Badami in northern Karnataka) by Paranjothi, the commander-in-chief of the Pallava king Narasimha
Varman I (reign: 630–668 CE),
following the conquest of Pallavas over the
Chalukyas (642 CE).
The icon was placed in Paranjothi birthplace
Tiruchenkattankudi. Later, Paranjothi renounced his violent ways and became
a Shaiva monk known as Siruthondar, is venerated as a Nayanar saint today. However, no written records
substantiate the oral tradition; the Ganesha icon is missing from list of war
booty brought by the Pallava general. The famous Kriti Vatapi Ganapathim
Bhaje by the composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar, in the Carnatic music idiom
salutes this deity.