I searched Agathiyar website on varahi and got the following interesting links. And guess what ? The Vaarahi of Raajarajeswaram is older than the temple itself !!!!! Read Dr.JB aiya's mails and Hindu article
The Vaarahi of Raajarajeswaram > is older than the temple itself !!!!!
quite possible appar sang about this very site (thalikulathaar aalayam) 300 years before rrc started his construction some of the idols in the vicinity could have been incorporated into the big temple
the persistent rumour is that the thalikulathar aalayam was in the nearabouts of the sivaganga tank
but i always used to wonder on the shallow foundations of the big temple which historians boast about. JUST SOME LOUD THINKING could it have been a posiblity that the big temple was built exactly on the foundations of the thalikulaththaar aalayam. of course the idol would have ben shifted elswhere and grants continued.an emperor could do anything at all.
when we went there last time, kudavoil told us about a surprising pallava inscription in the big temple.( most possibly a stone salvaged from another temple) canibalistic architecture is nothing new. it has happened several times. not all but some ( due to the enlarged size) stones could have come from thalikulathhtar alayam.
could SPS check up on the contents of the pallava inscription? might give us a clue.
Dear venkat Its an interesting thught but a king who is well renowned for his documenting capacity would have documented that wont he second thalikulathar may not have been such a big temple because prior to bigtemple most temples were small scale just thoughts