Kasi Viswanathar, Veppathur, Thanjavur

Basic information about the temple

Moolavar:	Kasi Viswanathar	Ambal / Thayar:	–
Deity:	Siva	Historical name:
Vriksham:		Teertham:
Agamam:		Age (years):
Timing:	to & to	Parikaram:
Temple group:		–
Sung by:		Temple set:
Navagraham:		Nakshatram:
City / town:	Veppathur	District:	Thanjavur
Maps from (click):	Current location	Kumbakonam (9 km)	Mayiladuthurai (30 km)
	Tiruvarur (41 km)	Thanjavur (50 km)

Location

Sthala puranam and temple information

It is unusual to find a Siva temple where the only other deity present is Vinayakar. There is not even a separate shrine for Amman here, and even the Vinayakar shrine is to the north of the Siva temple, which is strange.

It is said that at one time, there were five temples for Siva as Kasi Viswanathar, in and around Tiruvidaimaruthur. One is on the road from Tiruvidaimaruthur to Kalyanapuram (which joins the Kallanai-Poompuhar road), the second is this temple we are currently visiting, the third and fourth are in the streets (veedhi) around the Tiruvidaimaruthur Mahalingeswarar temple, while the fifth was in early stages of construction (Balalayam) but was destroyed ages ago.

Located under a banyan tree today, this must definitely have been a much larger temple in its heyday. Now all we have left is one Siva Lingam.

Even the adjacent Vinayakar shrine must be a later addition, though it is not known if the murti of Vinayakar in that shrine is from the original temple. The Vinayakar shrine is actually much larger than the Siva shrine, which itself is indicative that it should be a very recent construction.

Thankfully, some elements of Siva temples are still present, with a bali peetham and Nandi in front of the Siva shrine.