Thirukkavithalam also known as Kabisthalam, is located 3Kms. North of Papanasam; from Kumbakonam it is approximately 17Kms. on the way to Thanjavur. The Temple is located in between (South of)  Kollidam  and (north of) Cauvery rivers.  Bus facility is available from Kumakonam, Thiruvayaru and Papanasam. Also known as Upper Kabisthalam, this is one of the Krishnaranya Kshethrams ( the other four of the Pancha – meaning five - Krishna  Kshethrams being Thirukkannapuram, Thirukkannamangai, Thirukkannangudi and Thirukkovilur ).

Moolavar: Sri Gajendra Varadhan in reclining posture on Adhisesha, facing East.
Uthsavar: Sri VaradharAjar

ThAyaAr:Goddess RamAmanivalli ( PottrAmarayAl – meaning : “from Golden Lotus” ).

Prathyasham ( physically gave Darashan to ) : Siriya thiruvadi ( Anjaneya ) & Gajendran ( an Elephant ).

The Lord & Goddess look very majestic, magnificent and absorbs the devotee’s attention totally.

The Temple tower ( Gopuram ) is built with 3  levels of  elevation ( nilai in Tamil ).

Sthala Puranam:

In ancient days this place was a forest  full of  ‘VilA’ ( a particular type of fruit ) trees; the Lord gave Dharshan here  to one by name ‘VAli’  ( of the Anjaneya  category ); hence the place acquired the name Kabisthalam.

As per VishnupurAnam the sthala puranam of  the place is as follows :

Sage Dhurvasa once visited the place of  King Indirajimnan. The King was immersed in his devotional activities oblivious of the sage’s visit. After having waited for long outside, the sage became angry and cursed the King to become an Elephant. When the King learnt of the curse he immediately apologized to the sage  and asked for the way to get over the curse ;  the sage shed his  anger and told the King that even though he would be an elephant he would be very pious on Lord NarAyanA ; once while drinking water in a pond, a crocodile will catch one of his legs, he will call  Lord NarayanA for help and the lord would manifest and save him and give him Moksha ( salvation ).

Once when sage Agasthya was taking bath in the river, an asura by the name Koohi tortured the sage by pulling his legs for fun ; the sage got angry and cursed the asura to become a crocodile. The asura got shaken, apologized to the sage and  asked for the remedy ; the sage said that when an elephant by the name Gajendra comes and drinks water in the river, he will catch one of its legs and it will call  Lord NarayanA for help ; the Lord would  appear sitting on Garuda and throw the ChakrAyudhA ( discus ) at him which would liberate him from the curse.

As mentioned, one day when elephant Gajendra came to the river to drink water the crocodile caught one of its legs and the elephant called the God as ‘AadhimoolamE’ ; the lord appeared, liberated the elephant from the crocodiles grip, gave Darshan to both  and helped both the elephant and the crocodile get rid of their curses.

Now also every year in the month of Pankuni, Gajendra Moksham uthsavam is celebrated here, as a remembrance  of  the above mentioned event.

The Lord has been referred to as  ‘Aatrankarai kidakkum Kannan’ by Thirumangai Aazhwar in his mangalAsaAsanam on this Lord.

It is  very sad to see this Divya Desam Temple in a very bad condition.The Lord in the Temple looks  like an orphan ( may the Lord forgive me for using the word though out of sheer frustration and desperation ) with no full fledged Pooja as prescribed and without any regular traditional utsavams. There are absolutely no ornaments for the Lord or the Goddess except the few imitations gifted perhaps by some bhakathas; one has to see the Temple to believe its plight;

It is our humble request that devotees must make it a point to visit this category of Temples more. This would ensure that the place remains vibrant and the administrators of  this type would have no choice but to pay more attention on the Temple maintenance.