கச்சபேசுவரர் திருக்கோயில், திருக்கச்சூர்
The story goes that in the 8th century, the great Saivite poet-saint Sundaramoorthy Nayanar and his entourage once undertook a pilgrimage to the Sivan temples of Thondai Nadu. One day they were on their way to Kanchipuram from the nearby ancient Sivan temple of Thirukalukundram. They decided to break journey and stay for the night at this small village of Thirukachur. There was a Sivan temple here. They were tired after a day of walking. As night fell, they felt hungry. An old man appeared and offered them food. They later found out that the old man dressed as a beggar went to all the houses in the village and begged for food which the village folk gave generously. He fed the Sivanadiyar with the food he gathered. Then they could not find him. They believed that the Lord himself came here as a beggar to feed them and disappeared in to this shrine. Hence the Lord here came to be known as the Iranthitteeswarar (the Lord who was a beggar) and Virunthutteeswarar (the Lord who gave a feast). Sundarar in his gratitude rendered a pathikam here. Thus it became a Paadal Petra Petra Sthalam together with its twin temple of Maruntheeswarar, a smaller temple in the same village.
Kachabam means turtle. Legend says that when Lord Vishnu took the form of a turtle in his Koorma avatharam, he came here to obtain Lord Sivan's blessings in his effort to save the earth from destruction. Due to this, the Lord here came to be known as Kachabeswarar. The temple should not be confused with another ancient and beautiful temple by the same name with a similar legend in the heart of the city of Kanchipuram. That one is not a Paadal Petra Sthalam.
With two prakarams and granite walls and two acres in area, it is a moderate sized temple with multiple subsidiary shrines and a solid granite sanctum. Lots and lots of inscriptions. The vimanam is of the Gajaprishta or Thoonganai Maadam type similar to many Thondai Mandalam temples of the Chola era. There is no gopuram at the main entranceway. It is flat gopuram or a Mottai gopuram. The Amman here, Anjanakshi Amman, has her own special shrine. The Utsavar is a Somaskander idol and is celebrated as Thiyagarajar and the temple is sometimes referred to as the Thiyagarajar temple. The koshta idol on the western wall on the opposite side of the entrance to the sanctum sanctorum is an idol of Lord Mahavishnu and not a Lingothbavar as in many Chola temples. There is a small mandapam in front of the temple, which is believed to be the spot where Sundarar and his followers rested for the night 12 centuries ago. The sthala virutcham is the Aal or Banyan tree. Hence it is sometimes call the Aalakkoil.
The temple was not well maintained when we first visited seven years ago. It looks better but still needs some work. It is heartening to see that the temple pond has been given a solar powered cleaning system under a CSR initiative by a multinational corporation BASF operating in the area. The pond looks nice. It is called the Koorma Theertham and is just outside the temple. With DMK and PMK flags flying at the entrance of the temple, one could feel that there is politics going on which is unfortunate.
Sundarar praises the Lord here thus:
முதுவாய் ஓரி கதற முதுகாட்
டெரிகொண் டாடல் முயல்வானே
மதுவார் கொன்றைப் புதுவீ சூடும்
மலையான் மகள்தன் மணவாளா
கதுவாய்த் தலையிற் பலிநீ கொள்ளக்
கண்டால் அடியார் கவலாரே
அதுவே ஆமா றிதுவோ கச்சூர்
ஆலக் கோயில் அம்மானே.
The temple is located in the small village of Thirukachur and hidden away from the bustling highways close by. It is about 55 km or 2 hours southwest of Chennai city. We visited in August 2017 and August 2024. We were based in Chennai.
Credits: Google Maps
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