Between the 2nd and 9th centuries, the glorious city of Kachiampathi (as it was known then) stood proudly on the banks of the river Palar, capital of the south Indian Pallava dynasty and a renowned melting pot of religion, art, culture, achitecture and academia. One of India’s oldest cities, Kanchipuram is thought to have originated some 500 years BCE and aside from its illustrious martial arts history and a long-held reputation for the production of the finest hand-woven, mulberry silk sarees, it is known the world over as a centre of pilgrimage. Once called ‘the city of a thousand temples’, it now boasts a mere 126 Buddhist, Hindu and Jain examples, but many of these are still prized for their unique beauty and were built throughout the Pallava, Chola and Vijayanagara dynasties.

The Ekambaranatha (temple of earth) is one of five elemental places of worship dedicated to Shiva the Destroyer and sports a massive central tower – the highest in southern India. The temple of Kailasnatha is widely considered the most impressive, with its powerful, monolithic central roof carved to represent Mount Kailash, the home of Shiva. The temple of Varadharaja Perumal is another with an ornate, rock-cut central tower and contains carved lizards covered in gold leaf and one of the largest temple deity statues in India. It would take weeks to explore them all…

Written by  larapiegeler.

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