1938.] 



Report on the Mackenzie Manuscripts, 



369 



and printed in Or. Hist. MSS. vol. 2, App. B. Any further notice of 

 it here is, by consequence, superfluous. 



Section 4. Account of the Temples of Canchi, or Corjeveram, 



The legend of the place as collected by Cavelly Vencata Borialu 

 It was a chosen place by Siva. Parvati shaded the sun and the moon, 

 being the eyes of Siva ; by reason of which darkness covered the 

 earth ; and to blot out the fault, so committed, Parvati came down to 

 do penance under a mango-tree, at that place. Siva sent various 

 rivers, the orgin of which are mythologically stated. 



Visvacarma built a temple, and after many intermediate matters 

 (which however are not stated) in the time of Crishna Paijer, even as 

 he had re-built many other temples, so he re-built the fane of Ecdmbar- 

 tsvara. There are other mythological, or pauranic, statements of the 

 foundations of other places, based on fables concerning Brahma, 

 Vishnu and Siva. At a later period there is mention of four towns 

 around, to which roads led from Conjeveram; that is 1. Mahabali- 

 puram^2. Devaldpuram to the south—S. Firinchipuram—a,nd 4, 

 Narrayanapuram. (1 Faishnava—2 Saiva — 3 Saiva—4 Vaish- 

 nava). 



Vishnu, born as Nareda, introduced the Bauddha system ; to expi- 

 ate which fault, he was required to do penance at Conjeveram. The 

 t/ama* spread through the country; and had a settlement near Con- 

 jeveram, Sancardchdrya came thither; and, overcoming th^Jainas in 

 disputation, re-established the Hindu religion, according to his own 

 tenets. There is still however a small town near, called Canchi of the 

 Jainas. Another existing evidence of the ancient prevalence of the 

 Jaina system at this place is, that in the walls and edifices built by 

 Crishna Rayer images of the T'aiwa system are wrought in with the 

 other workmanship. 



Brahma performed a great sacrifice at one of the sacred hills at 

 Conjeveram; in the fire of which Vishnu, as Varada-raja was born 

 (being the form of Vishnu worshipped in the Vaishnava-f-dne at Con- 

 jeveram). The elephant of Vishnu, gathering lotos-flowers from the 

 tank, had its legs bitten oflf by an alligator, and Vishnu slew the alli- 

 gator with his chacra (an event commemorated in processions by car- 

 rying round the image of an elephant without legs). Notice of the 

 different Vdhanas, or vehicles used for the processions of the image 

 of VishnUf at the great annual festival in the month of May, 



