Paranjyoti (siruthondar) – vatapi ganapati

Paranjyoti (siruthondar) – vatapi ganapati

 

Vatapi, the capital of west Deccan's chalukya kingdom is the same place where vatapi-ilvala demons lived. There was a ganapati there also, in the form of a statue. As he was in vatapi, he was also called vatapi ganapati. When Narasimha varma won over that town, and wrote the victory message, the person who went as commander in chief was paranjyoti.

 

You would have heard kalingatu parani. It is the book that tells about the victory by kulottunga chola over kalinga kingdom. Though it says that kulottunga won, in fact the man responsible for that victory for his commander in chief karunakara thondaiman. In the same way, paranjyoti, the commander in chief was responsible for the victory of narasimha varma over vatapi.

 

He belonged to thiruchengattankudi which has the temple called ganapaticharam. Therefore from birth, he must have had a special attachment to vigneswarar. This is also god's play – though he won over vatapi and brought from there good, wealth, elephants, horses and everything and came with them in a procession, at that time he saw vatapi ganapati. Upon seeing him, his devotion poured out. He got that statue for himself.

 

As it happened for Asoka, and like I narrated a while ago for chalukkya king vikramaditya, in the life of paranjyoti also after he returned to the pallava kingdom after this victory, a great change happened.