Kachiyapper on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Kachiyapper (Kacchiyappa Shiva āchāriyār) is a Tamil temple
Kacchiyappar (Kacchiyappa Shiva āchāriyār), a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, was a priest in the Kumara kottam temple. He composed the text ''Kandha Purānam''. The hall, the ''Kandhapurāna Arangetra Mantapam ''(An outdoor pavilion) where Kacchiyappar composed the text still exists in the temple complex. Peacocks flock the premises even now.Kacchiyappar wrote the epic in six
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
who gained fame as a poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
and Vedantist.
Personal life
Kachiyapper was born in a ShaiviteBrahmin
Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
family and officiated as a priest in the Ekambareswarar Temple in Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...
, Kumara Kottam Murugan temple, Kanchipuram.
Works
Kachiyapper was a poet and Vedantist. His greatest composition was the '' Kandha puranam'', which is the Tamil counterpart of theSanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
''Skanda Purana
The ''Skanda Purana'' (IAST: Skanda Purāṇa) is the largest ''Puranas#Mahapuranas, Mukyapurana'', a genre of eighteen Hindu religious texts. The text contains over 81,000 verses, and is of Kaumaram, Kaumara literature, titled after Kartikeya ...
''. The metres have been composed in the same style as the former. It is made up of six volumes comprising a total of 13,305 stanzas. According to Kachiyapper's preface to Parasurama Mudaliar's ''Kandha purana Vachagam'', the work was completed in the Saka year 700 corresponding to 778 AD.
''Kandha Purānam''
Kacchiyappar (Kacchiyappa Shiva āchāriyār), a Tamil and Sanskrit scholar, was a priest in the Kumara kottam temple. He composed the text ''Kandha Purānam''. The hall, the ''Kandhapurāna Arangetra Mantapam ''(An outdoor pavilion) where Kacchiyappar composed the text still exists in the temple complex. Peacocks flock the premises even now.Kacchiyappar wrote the epic in six canto
The canto () is a principal form of division in medieval and modern long poetry.
Etymology and equivalent terms
The word ''canto'' is derived from the Italian word for "song" or "singing", which comes from the Latin ''cantus'', "song", from the ...
s, comprising 10,346 stanzas. It is believed that the first line of the first stanza was written by Kacchiyappar's patron deity, Murugan himself. The god is also believed to have corrected the 100 stanzas written by the priest during the day. The poet took his composition to the god and rehearsed it. Even now the priests in the temple are the descendants of Kacchiyappar.
References
Bibliography
* * * * Bhakti movement Indian Shaivite religious leaders Tamil poets {{hindu-bio-stub