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The History of Kotchengatchozha Nayanar

In the kingdom ruled by the famed Chozha dynasty, in which a king had once given his own flesh to save a dove that had sought shelter, there was a forest filled with pleasant smell because of the water of the river Kaviri flowing through it brought, along with its current, logs of sandalwood. In the heart of that forest was a garden of flowers set on the banks of Chandra Tirtham. In that floral garden, under the shade of the vennaval tree appeared the form of God, whose feet were hard to find even for Lord Vishnu. There was a white elephant of great austerity that used to anoint the Lord with the water, brought in its trunk and worship with a bunch of flowers daily. In the same place there was a spider worshipping Mahadeva by spinning a web over the Lord's abode so that no dry leaf fell on that form of the Supreme. Both the creatures were serving and worshiping Shiva out of great love.

Kotchengatchozha Nayanar - The History of Kotchengatchozha Nayanar When the elephant came for its worship, it saw the web over the Lord and finding it unholy, it dust the web off with its trunk and performed its rituals. The spider felt bad about the elephant disturbing its service. It again spun a web over the shivalingam to serve the Lord. The following day the elephant again removed the spider’s web and the spider got irked. It entered the trunk and bit the elephant. In acute pain, the elephant fell to the ground and died. Because of the fall, the spider too died. Because of this marvellous worship of both the spider and the elephant, the place came to be known as Tiruvanaikka. Parameshwara blessed the elephant with boons and the spider to rule the land by taking birth in the ancient Chozha dynasty.

The Chozha king Subadevan served under the holy feet of the Dancing Lord of Tillai along with his queen Kamalavati. Distressed about not having an heir, the queen prayed fervently to God and by His grace, the spider that had performed the great service, entered her womb. When she was about to give birth, she heard the astrologers discussing that if the baby was born a nazhikai (24 minutes) later, the child would rule a vast empire. The queen immediately ordered her legs to be raised up to prevent the birth till the specified time. At the specified time, the loving queen delivered the baby and exclaimed with love “kochenkanan!!” (Oh! red eyed!!). The queen soon died. The king brought up his loving son as his very life and gave the kingdom to him to lead a life of austerities.

The king, Kochengan Chozhar, recollecting the services of his previous birth with the grace of the Lord, wanted to build many wonderful temples for the Lord of the five Elements. He went to the place of his previous birth, Tiruvanaikka and constructed a mammoth temple for Mrityunjaya. He sent his brave ministers in all directions and built huge temples in all the states of the kingdom for the eight-armed Lord. He built temples in which elephants cannot enter as they were contructued a storey up. Hence they are called Madakoyil (storeyed temples). He gave huge donations for the maintenance of those temples with a heart full of devotion. With his royal umbrella providing shade for a vast empire, he ruled the land justly. He went to salute the golden feet of the Cosmic Dancer at Tillai. He constructed mansions for the disciplined priests of Tillai, who spent their life in the service of the Almighty. With the land praising his services, Kochengan Chozhar took shelter under the holy feet of the Lord. Let the great and holy devotion of Kochengan Chozha Nayanar with which he built gigantic, marvellous and numerous temples for the Lord stay in the mind.