Kanchipuram
It is situated 76 Kms southwest of Madras. It was
successively the former capital of the ancient Pallavas, Cholas and Vijayanagar
empire.
This old city is known as 'the Golden city of 1,000 temples'. It is one of
the seven sacred cities of India and is famous for hand-woven silk fabrics.
The kings from Pallava and Vijayanagar period built various temples.
They also patronised all the arts making Kanchipuram, a great center of learning not only for
Hindus but also for Jains and Buddhists. The Tamil religious and literary
works flourished during this period. The teachings of Sankaracharya (spiritual teacher) is
carried at the Sankaracharya Matt. The Headquarters of the
'Math' is situated at Kanchipuram.
The Ekambareswara Temple is at north western part of the town. It was constructed in the mid of
9th century
by the Pallavas. It has a 200 ft gopuram with more than 10 stories of
intricate sculpture. The temple is dedicated to Shiva. There is a
mango tree, thought to be 3,500 years old, inside the courtyard. The four main
branches is said to bear fruit with
a different taste depicting the four Hindu Vedas (oldest known Hindu religious text).
The Kailasanatha (Shiva) Temple
The temple is situated at Putleri street, 1.5 Km west of town centre. It was
build by Pallava king Rayasimha in late 7th century. The
foundation of this temple is made of granite, the superstructure
was built from carved sandstones. There are sculptures of Shiva in various
poses, to give a picture of different aspects of mythology.
The Vaikunthaperumal Temple (Vishnu's Paradise). This temple
was built in the 8th
century. It has 4-storey vimana in square with three shrines,
each with a different pose of Vishnu. Its colonnade lion pillars and extensive
sculptures bears historical pallava inscriptions.
The Varadaraja Temple
(bestower of boons), also known as Devarajaswamy Temple is 3 Km south east of
town. This
temple is a place of pilgrim and is dedicated to Vishnu. Its
beautifully carved
100 pillar mandapam is one of the attractions. The 100 ft high gopuram
was originally built in 11th century. It was renovated by the Vijyanagar
Kings after 500 years.
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