Karpaga Vinayakar Temple

The rock-cut temple houses high-relief sculptures of Vinayaka, a Śiva liṅga, and a third figure that may be Ardhanareeswara or Harihara. The Vinayaka is taken erroneously as the main deity. To the west of Vinayaka a mandapa ends in the Śiva liṅga that is the true main deity, facing east, named Tiru Eengaikudi Mahadeva, Eengaikudi being the old name of Pillaiyarpatti. The present arrangement lets one face the Vinayaka shrine at the entrance, since the cave is hard for many to enter, and so hides the shrines of Śiva and Ardhanareeswara.

The Vinayaka relief is unlike later forms. He has only two hands, the modak in the right and the left on his hip, his trunk turned right (valampuri). He wears no sacred thread, carries holy ash on forehead and hands, wears a waist belt and a crown, and his left tusk is broken. Later additions include shrines of Nataraja, Sivakami, Karthikeya with Valli and Devayanai, Bairava and the Navagraha, with a pond, colourful gopurams and frescoed mandapas before the rock-cut temple, which stands behind.

The ancient part of the temple is now placed by historians between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, with the Pāṇḍyas, Cholas and later dynasties doing further expansion. The temple carries many inscriptions in its shrines, on its walls and on the mandapa. One names a Desi Vinayaka, traced to the 7th century CE; another carries paleographic Brahmi close to Tamil and early Vatteluttu scripts.

In the sanctum of Śiva an inscription reads Ikkatturu Kon Perumthachan, taken to name the sculptor of the temple, its script of the 6th century. Maravarman Sundara Pandyan (1216 to 1238 CE) visited three times and gave donations through his vassal Kangeyan. In 1305 CE Kulasekara Pandyan arranged for pittu and paniyaram every Sunday, as the inscriptions record. The panchaloka idols excavated in the 19th century are dated to the 11th century. The Nagarathar have worshipped here since 714 CE and now maintain the temple.