Karpaga Vinayagar Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Madurai airport is about 70 km away and Trichy about 100 km.

• By train

  Karaikudi is the nearest railway junction.

• By road

  Pillayarpatti is reached by National Highway 36 and State Highway 35. It lies about 12 km from Karaikudi and 71 km from Madurai, on the Thirupathur to Karaikudi state highway.

Why devotees come here

Karpaga Vinayagar Temple is a rock-cut cave shrine in Pillayarpatti village, Sivaganga district, Tamil Nadu. Its carved Ganesha is a 6-foot bas-relief on the rock face. The temple is one of the nine ancestral temples of the Nagarathar community.

The temple is a rock-cut cave shrine on the eastern edge of a rocky hill in Pillayarpatti village. The deity is Karpaka Vinayakar, a form of Ganesha, and a 6-foot bas-relief of him is carved into the southern face of the rock. The Nagarathar community counts it among their nine ancestral Hindu temples, a status they date to 714 CE.

The cave is attributed to Narasimhavarma, around 650 CE, and it is among the oldest rock-cut cave temples in Tamil Nadu. A 7th-century Shiva linga stands at the center of the cave's Shiva shrine.

The temple as it stands today has many layers of additions and restorations, completed over nearly 1,400 years. It has a large, colorful gopuram, mandapams with frescoes, many shrines, and a large temple tank to the north. Its architecture follows Agamic texts and Shilpa Sastras.

Festivals

• Aavani month, between August and SeptemberVinayaka Chaturthi

  Celebrated for 10 days. It opens with the hoisting of a holy flag, and a chariot procession goes through the streets on the 9th day.

Tips for your visit

• The festival opens with a ceremony called Kappukattu, when the holy flag is hoisted.
• Special poojas and homams follow the flag hoisting during the festival.
• Look for the large temple tank to the north of the temple.
• Inside, halls called salas were first added for dance and hymn singing.
• A temple kitchen is also part of the temple complex.

Questions people ask