Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Early medieval · Hindu · India

Ucchi Pillayar Temple, Rockfort

Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu · 10.8285°, 78.6971°

Ucchi Pillaiyar (Ganesha)Pallava; Madurai NayakDravidian
Sacred since
600 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
7th c. (Pallava), completed under the Nayaks
Pallava; Madurai Nayak

History & significance

A shrine to Ganesha on the summit of the Rockfort at Tiruchirappalli, reached by steps cut into the rock, whose caves were first excavated by the Pallavas in the 7th century and whose temples were completed by the Nayaks of Madurai under the Vijayanagara Empire. The site is maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India and looks out over Trichy, Srirangam and the rivers below.

Sthala katha — the traditional account

What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.

Ganesha is said to have taken the form of a Brahmin boy and set down the image of Ranganatha that Vibhishana was carrying to Lanka, so that it stayed at Srirangam.

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Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Pallava; Madurai Nayak