Kānchipuram (), or Kānchi or Kāncheepuram, is a famous temple city in the Indian state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. It served as the capital city of the

Pallava Kingdom The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

. It is also known by its former names Kanchiampathi, Conjeevaram, and the nickname "The City of Thousand Temples" It is now the Administrative headquarters of

Kanchipuram district Kancheepuram district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The area comprising the present day Kancheepuram district was earlier a part of Chingleput district. The original Chingleput district was split in 1997 into f ...

. Kanchipuram is located 72 kilometers from

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, the capital city of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, India. Kānchipuram is considered one of the seven holiest cities to the

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

of India. In Hinduism, a kṣetra is a sacred ground, a field of active power, a place where

moksha ''Moksha'' (; sa, मोक्ष, '), also called ''vimoksha'', ''vimukti'' and ''mukti'', is a term in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism for various forms of emancipation, enlightenment, liberation, and release. In its soteriology, ...

, final release can be obtained. The

Garuda Purana The ''Garuda Purana'' is one of 18 ''Mahāpurāṇa'' texts in Hinduism. It is a part of Vaishnavism literature corpus, primarily centering around Hindu god Vishnu. Composed in Sanskrit and also available in various languages like Gujarati an ...

enumerates seven cities as providers of moksha, namely

Ayodhya Ayodhya (; ) is a city situated on the banks of holy river Saryu in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya, also known as Sāketa, Saketa, is an ancient city of India, the birthplace of Rama and ...

Mathura Mathura () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Mathura district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is located approximately north of Agra, and south-east of Delhi; about from the town of Vrindavan, and from Govardhan. ...

Haridwar Haridwar (; ) is a city and municipal corporation in the Haridwar district of Uttarakhand, India. With a population of 228,832 in 2011, it is the second-largest city in the state and the largest in the district. The city is situated on the righ ...

Varanasi Varanasi (; ; also Banaras or Benares (; ), and Kashi.) is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world. * * * * The city has a syncretic t ...

, Avantikā,

Dvārakā Dvārakā, also known as ''Dvāravatī'' (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated ity, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of H ...

and

Kanchipuram Kanchipuram ('; ) also known as ''Conjeevaram,'' is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from Chennaithe capital of Tamil Nadu. Known as the ''City of Thousand Temples'', Kanchipuram is known for its temple ...

List of temples

Among the major

Hindu temples A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

in Kānchipuram are some of the most prominent

Vishnu Temples Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

and

Shiva Temples of Tamil Nadu Throughout India, there are a large amount of temples dedicated to Shiva, one of the principal deities of Hinduism. The most temples are in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where there are 2,500 Shiva temples of importance. There are seve ...

like the Varadharaja Perumal Temple for

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

and the Ekambaranatha Temple which is the "earth abode" of

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hindu ...

. Kamakshi Amman Temple, Kumara Kottam, Kachapeshwarar Temple, and the Kailasanathar Temple are some of the other prominent temples. ''

Divya desams A Divya Desam or Vaishnava Divya Desam is one of the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that is mentioned in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnavism, Sri Vaishnava tradition. Of the 108 temples, 10 ...

'' - temples dedicated to Vishnu glorified in the ''

Divya Prabandha The Naalayira Divya Prabandham ( ta, நாலாயிரத் திவ்வியப் பிரபந்தம், lit=Four Thousand Divine Hymns, translit=Nālāyira Divya Prabandham) is a collection of 4,000 Tamil verses composed by ...

'', the early medieval

Tamil literature Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from T ...

canon of the

Alvar An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie ...

saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE. There are 15 Divya desam in Kanchipuram.
''

Padal petra stalam The Paadal Petra Sthalam, also known as Thevara Sthalam, are 276 temples that are revered in the verses of Saiva Nayanars in the 6th-9th century CE and are amongst the greatest Shiva temples of the continent. The Divya Desams by comparison ar ...

'' - where the three of the most revered

Nayanars The Nayanars (or Nayanmars; ta, நாயன்மார், translit=Nāyaṉmār, translit-std=ISO, lit=hounds of Siva, and later 'teachers of Shiva ) were a group of 63 Tamil Hindu saints living during the 6th to 8th centuries CE who were de ...

(

Saivite Shaivism (; sa, शैवसम्प्रदायः, Śaivasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu traditions, which worships Shiva as the Supreme Being. One of the largest Hindu denominations, it incorporates many sub-traditions rangin ...

Saints),

Appar Appar, also referred to as ( ta, திருநாவுக்கரசர்) or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Śaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Śaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is ...

Sundarar Sundarar (Tamil: சுந்தரர்), also referred to as Chuntarar, Chuntaramurtti, Nampi Aruran or Tampiran Tolan, was an eighth-century poet-saint of Tamil Shaiva Siddhanta tradition of Hinduism. He is among the Tevaram trio, and one o ...

and Tirugnana Sambandar have glorified the Shiva temples in ''

Tevaram The ''Thevaram'' ( ta, தேவாரம், ), also spelled ''Tevaram'', denotes the first seven volumes of the twelve-volume collection ''Tirumurai'', a Śaiva narrative of epic and puranic heroes, as well as a hagiographic account of early ...

'' during the 7th-8th centuries. There are 11 paadal petra stalam in Kanchipuram.

Notes

References

*. * * * *. *.

External links

{{Commons category, Temples in Kanchipuram district, position=
Thirukalukundram temple
*

Hindu temples in Kanchipuram Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...