Temples in Tiruvanchiyam (Srivanchiyam)

Tiruvanchiyam lies about 18 km. north-west of Tiruvarur on the main road to Kumbakonam. The Lord of the local temple (Vanchisvara, Vanchinathar or) Vanchi-lingesvara has been sung by the three great JV ayanmars,as also by Manikkavachakaf who sings of the miracle of the Naga-kannika who worshipped this Lord and became one with Him as Ammai-appan.

Vanchisvara (Vanchi-lingesvara) temple

The earliest inscription here is found on a pillar of the Dakshi-namurti shrine in the temple. A mutilated record of the 39th year of Kulottunga I, it records a gift of land to the goddess ‘Tirup palliyarai Nam pirattiyar’, whose image was presented to the temple of ‘Tiru vanchiyam udaiya Mahadevar’ by a native of Momangudi (ARE 72 of 1911).

On the walls of the central shrine itself, there are three records: a damaged one of the 18th year of ‘Tribhuvana-Chakravarti Rajarajadeva’ and two, of the 3rd and 11th years, of ‘Rajadhi-rajadeva’. Another record of the former’s days lists lands owned by the temple and its subordinate shrines (ARE 66 of 1911). From a later record, dated in the 10th year ofjatavarman Sundara Pandya deva (ARE 68 of 1911), we get the alternate name of Rajagambhira chaturvedimangalam for Tiruvanchiyam: Rajagambhira was, as we have said earlier, one of the surnames of Rajaraja II.

On the walls of the Mangalambika (Amman) shrine in the temple, there is an unfinished record of the 18th year of‘Tribhu-vana chakravarti Rajaraja deva’, which refers to the building of this shrine and the consecration of the image of the goddess ‘in the temple of Tiruvanchiyam Udaiya Nayanar’ (ARE 70 of 1911). There is also a damaged record of the 20th year of the same ruler: it seems to register gifts of land made to the temple in different years of the king’s reign and mentions the places Perumbarrap puliyur (Chidambaram) and Tiruvellarai (ARE 71 of 1911).

There are also a number of Pandyan inscriptions here; we have already referred to one.

On the basis of the above information, we may conclude that the original temple dates back to at least the days of Kulottunga I, and that the renovation of the entire temple and the building of the separate Amman shrine took place during the days of a Rajaraja who may be identified as Rajaraja II, especially in view of the village bearing the alternate name of Rajagambhira chaturvedimangalam. It is likely that the pillar in the Dakshina-murti shrine, referred to earlier, was earlier part of the original main shrine and that the Dakshinamurti' shrine itself was newly constructed (as was the Amman shrine), at the time of renovation of the main shrine, partly with material from the older structure. (Pls. 271-3).