South India – Exotic Tours
The temple city is famous for its magnificent silk sarees characterized by contrasting colors, beautiful gold and silver thread borders and nature motifs. As well as a thriving silk industry, Kanchipuram is also a treasure trove of temples dating back to the Pallava and Chola dynasties.
Dedicated to Shiva, Kailaishnath is one of the oldest temples in Kanchipuram, built by Rajasimha and his son Mahendra in the late 7th century. The sandstone architecture of this beautiful Kanchipuram temple retains the freshness of the early Dravidian style. There are fifty-eight small shrines around the main one, honoring Shiva and Parvati and their children Ganesh and Murugan. The fresco paintings on the interior walls of the sanctuaries are also striking. Non-Hindus can enter the inner sanctum, where there is a lingam, apparently the largest in the city and the third largest in Asia. Visitors will find the guides and priests in and around the temple friendly and helpful.
Occupying forty acres of sprawling land, Ekambareswarar Temple is the largest in Kanchipuram and largely dominates its skyline. This is one of the five main Shiva temples (where he is worshiped as the Prithvi Lingam) and represents “earth” as one of the five elements.
The other four temples are Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara for water, Chidambaram Natarajar for ether, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara for fire, and Kalahasti Nathar for wind. The temple’s fifty-nine-meter-high gopuram (an ornate monumental tower at a temple entrance) and massive outer wall were built in 1509 by Krishnadevaraya of the Vijaynagar empire. Shiva’s consort Parvati is believed to have worshiped him in the form of Prithivi Ungam (or lingam made of earth). When the neighboring river Vegavati overflowed its banks and threatened to swallow the lingam, Parvati embraced it. Moved by this gesture, Shiva materialized in human form and married her. The name of the temple is said to be derived from Eka Amra Nather – Lord of the Mango Tree Here is a mango tree which is believed to be 3,500 years old with four branches representing the four Vedic texts.
The Vardharaja Perumal temple is impressive and exquisite. Dedicated to Vishnu, ft was built by the Pallavas in 1053 and later enlarged during the reign of the Cholas. It is located in Vishnu Kanchi, an area of Kanchipuram packed with places of worship dedicated to Vishnu. There is a hall of one hundred columns filled with impressive sculptural works. Take note of the ornamental rings (carved from a single stone) in the four corners of the room. The annual Garudothsavam festival takes place during the months of May and June and is a colorful and vibrant time to visit the area along with hundreds of other devotees from across the country.
Another extremely important Vishnu temple is the Vaikunt Perumal built by the Pallava king Nandhivarman Pallavamalla a few years after the completion of the Kailaishnath temple. Vaikuntha Perumal Temple (the name translates as ‘Vishnu’s paradise’) is a unique structure whose main parts form an integrated whole. While it is an eye-catching building, there are a couple of things that stand out and make this temple unusual. There is a corridor to circumambulate the sanctuaries on the second and third floors and their cloisters, with a colonnade of beautiful pillars of lion sculptures and other extensive sculptures with various Pallava inscriptions. There are generally fewer people here, and it’s a nice change from the other busier tourist spots in the city.