Kanchipuram Temple Complex
Kanchipuram is a typical temple town situated northwest of Mahabalipuarm. Kailasanatha, the finest structural Pallava temple is located here. There are three main areas of Kanchi, each devoted to a particular belief – Shiva, Vishnu or Jain. Altogether there are over 100 temples that are still used by the faithful.
The next temple chronologically is the Viakuntah Perumal temple. It has three vertically rising sanctums dedicated to Vishnu and crowned by a superb carved vimana. The largest and most important of Shivaite temples is the Ekambaresvara. It has one of the tallest (57 metre) gateway towers in India. The other important temple is Varadaraja Vishnu temple, featuring a hundred-pillar hall and a huge chain carved out of a single piece of stone. Back towards the centre, within a walled compound, is the Kamakshi temple dedicated to Parvati in the form of Shakti. To the north is the large tank. Behind the unaccessible sanctum that contains an earth lingam lies another open courtyard.
