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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2016}}
'''Kachiyapper''' (Kacchiyappa Shiva āchāriyār) is a tamil temple [[priest]] who gained fame as a [[poet]] and [[Vedanta|Vedantist]].

==Personal life==

Kachiyapper was born in a Shaivite [[Brahmin]] family and officiated as a priest in the [[Ekambareswarar Temple (Kanchipuram)|Ekambareswarar Temple]] in [[Kanchipuram]], [[Kumarakottam Temple|Kumara Kottam Murugan temple, Kanchipuram.]]

==Works==

Kachiyapper was a poet and Vedantist. His greatest composition was the ''[[Kanda Puranam|Kandha puranam]]'', which is the Tamil counterpart of the [[Sanskrit]] ''[[Skanda Purana]]''. 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''===
[[File:The mandapam where Kantha puranam was released.jpg|right|thumb|[[Mandapa|Mantapam]] (Hall) in the Kumarakottam Temple complex where the epic Kandha Purānam was released]]
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 [[Mandapa|Mantapam]] ''(An outdoor pavilion) where Kacchiyappar composed the text still exists in the temple complex. Peacocks flock the premises even now.{{sfn|Rao|2008|p=109-110}}Kacchiyappar wrote the epic in six [[canto]]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.{{sfn|Pillai|1904|p=107}} The poet took his composition to the god and rehearsed it.{{sfn|Spuler|1975|p=222}} Even now the priests in the temple are the descendants of Kacchiyappar.<ref name=Koti>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kamakoti.org/kamakoti/visitors/temples%20in%20Kanchi.html?PHPSESSID=8fbec77f0783fc108c69fea4bedc569d#muruga|title=Temples in Kānchi Near Srimatam|access-date=22 August 2013|publisher=Kamakoti organization}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book | title=The Tamil Plutarch, containing a summary account of the lives of poets and poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon | last=Chitty| first=Simon Casie| year=1859| pages=31| publisher=Ripley & Strong| location=Jaffna|ref=tamil_plutarch}}
*{{cite book|last= Pillai |first=M. S. Purnalingam |title=A Primer of Tamil Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JwkrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA107|year=1904|publisher=Ananda Press}}
*{{cite book|last= Rao |first=P. V. L. Narasimha |title=Kanchipuram: Land of Legends, Saints and Temples|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HJFldI75dRcC&pg=PA91|year=2008|publisher=Readworthy|isbn=978-81-89973-54-4}}
*{{cite book|last= Spuler |first=Bertold |title=Handbook of Oriental Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kx4uqyts2t4C&pg=PA222|year=1975|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-04190-5}}
{{Refend }}

[[Category:Bhakti movement]]
[[Category:Indian Shaivite religious leaders]]
[[Category:Tamil poets]]


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