Vaikunta Perumal Temple, Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram is one of the very few places in India where both Vaishnavite (followers of Lord Vishnu) and Shaivite (followers of Lord Shiva) temples are located. These are two of the four sects of Hinduism. Here in Kanchipuram we got the opportunity to visit the temples of two different sects. This temple, the Vaikunta Perumal temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. It was built shortly after the construction of Kailasanatha Temple in mid-eighth century, by Pallava King Nandivarman.


The most impressive and unique feature of the temple were the pillars, each one had a lion carved on it. They support the enclosed passage inside the temple. This architectural style, that of pillars in rows, led to a distinctive style followed by the later temples. It led to the evolution of the architectural style of 1000 pillared halls in later temples.


The walls too are carved depicting the stories of war scenes between the Pallavas and Chalukyas. One panel describes the history of the temple in eighth century script. The religious sculptures found on the inner walls of the verandah running around the four sides of this temple are very unique and important.

The information here is not found in any other temples of India. The numerous inscriptions of the Pallava dynasty of the Vaikuntha Perumal temple have helped the historians of South India to write about all the events of ancient Pallava history and to fix the chronology of this dynasty.


It would be wise to take the help of a guide here, I found them quite eager to explain and knowledgeable too.

See more of the World at: That's My World

Kailasanatha Temple, Kanchipuram

The Kailasanatha Temple is the oldest temple of Kanchipuram. King Rajasimha of Pallava dynasty built this temple in early eighth century. Have you seen anything as old as this?




The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva. Prayers are offered at this temple even today. There is a path around the sanctum which requires the visitors to climb and crawl through narrow edifices and spiraling stairs leading down. If you are ever there, request the priest to take you around that, a very interesting experience even if you don't attach religious significance to it. It is not disclosed to all, most often they say the darshan timings are over. No photography is permitted inside.



The walls, the pyramidal sikharas are filled with sculptures. These were painted with rich bright colors centuries back, but now nothing remains. All have peeled off, only patches are left here and there in the crevices and deep enclosures which have escaped the wrath of nature.



The temple is built of sandstone and has been renovated in the recent times. It is situated a little away from the more crowded and popular temples of Kanchipuram.

A guaranteed spot to spend some great tranquil moments!

See more of the World at: That's My World

Ekambaranathar Temple, Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram is one of the seven sacred cities of India. The skyline is dotted with gopurams (towers over the temple gateways) of temples. The city was the capital of the early Cholas during the 2nd century BC. It was the Pallava capital between the 6th and 8th centuries. Kanchipuram is also called as "City of 1000 Temples". Almost every street is lined with at least one temple if not more. If you are ever there try doing a bicycle tour along the streets and mingle with locals to soak in the religious and cultural ambiance. Kanchipuram is famous for its silk weaves too(more about that in another post).


With barely two days in hand to tour the city (that includes time for silk shopping there), I targeted just five temples there. The first one was the Ekambaranath Temple, the largest in Kanchipuram dedicated to Lord Shiva. It also signifies Shiva's forms in one of the five elements of Universe viz. earth. The Gopuram 59m high is covered with delicate sculptures, each with a story. I prefer to get lost in the beauty of the sculptures rather than try and find out their stories. Most of them are evocative in their own style.

The main attractions in the temple are:"Aayiram Kaal Mandapam" or the hallway with a thousand pillars

then there's this corridor with an array of 1008 Shiva Lingams.

The gigantic Nandi, the bull.

Inside the courtyard is a 3500 year old tree, nothing much is left of it, a small tree growing in its place. The tree is revered as God, and some believe it as a site of marriage of Shiva and Parvati. Today this site is chosen as marriage site of many couples. The common belief is that each of its four main branches is said to bear fruit with a different taste, representing the four Hindu Vedas (sacred texts).

See more of the World at: That's My World

Blessings By An Elephant

Don't be surprised if you are confronted by elephants in temples of Tamil Nadu. These elephants are trained animals, trained to even bless you. They are decorated and displayed during festivals. Their routine work would include carrying and transferring heavy loads and sometimes idols too within temple complex.


One of the daily activities of these mute mammoth animals would be to bless visitors and collect money. The elephants are decorated with Bhasma, the three horizontal lines on the forehead indicates it is a devotee of Lord Shiva. The mahout stands close to them. Children visiting temples find it exciting and fun to get blessed by the elephants. They queue up in front of these elephants, the elephants extend the trunk like upturned palm towards them. As soon as the coin is placed on the trunk, it would swing the trunk to the mahout and pass the coin to him. Then it would place the trunk on their heads and lo! they are blessed. Adults too wait patiently for their turn.


I just didn't like the idea of these mahouts making an earning out of these mute animals, so I sent my daughters with bunches of bananas. To our astonishment and disappointment, the elephant happily ate the bananas but did not do the act of blessing.

The selfish Humans have successfully trained these mute animals to be money minded.

My daughters made a second trip, this time armed with coins!

Arjuna's Penance, Mahabalipuram

I found the relief carvings on a huge rock the most stunning work in Mahabalipuram. A 25.5 by 12 meter tall structure; the relief has so many sculpted images that leaves one confused what it could all mean. Looking at the sculpted images, I tried to relate to various stories each section might be representing. My mind was recollecting the article I read on conflicting views about this relief: whether this depicted 'Arjuna's Penance' or 'Bhagiratha's penance'.

Baby elephants huddled around mama elephant's leg!

Arjuna's penance would mean, the penance of Pandav prince Arjuna to obtain the Pasupata, the mighty weapon from Lord Shiva.

Bhagirathi's penance would mean, the penance of sage Bhagirathi in Himalayas to bring down river Ganga to earth for redeeming his ancestor's souls.

Whichever may be the story, it was immaterial to me then. I was devouring the images with eyes and lens, constructing my own stories and tried to relate to the images of the masterpiece in my own way. I found the sculpted image of a cat's meditative posture interesting. It was surrounded by 15 mice, one of them praying to the cat. Could he be the hypocritical cat in fake meditation trying to fool the mice who came seeking justice from him?

Oh! That itchy nose!

Is that a pygmy hog at the top?

This statue silenced my ruffled thoughts. How well the sculptor depicted his pensive mood! What must have been his thoughts while chiseling away at the rock!

See more of the World at: That's My World

Ardhanarisvara

Ardhanarishvara, the Lord whose half is woman!

I always found this form of God intriguing. Even as a young girl I used to be puzzled by this form of God. Half man and half woman! What could it signify! Grand moms and parents did answer but much of the meaning became clear after I was many years in to adulthood.

Hindus consider this form of God as the harmonious male-female essence divinity, the ineffable genderless nature of of God beyond human distinctions. The Rigvedic assertion is explicitly defined: the male is only so much male as much he is female and vice versa the female is only as much female as much she is male. The maleness and femaleness are the attributes contained in one frame. God is conceptually beyond sex, but often referred to as He/She. The more appropriate reference would be 'It'.


During my recent Temple tour of Tamil Nadu I came across sculpted images depicting various forms of this unique form of Ardhanarishwara. Some had just two arms, some with three and some with even eight. The left side depicts Shakti, consort of Lord Shiva. The form is more curvaceous, with all parts rounded, the hand holding a blue lotus. The right side depicts Lord Shiva in all his accessories. The form is more masculine, the hand in abhaya mudra, imparting fearlessness.

(Shot taken at Gangaikondacholapuram, near Kumbakonam.)

(Shot taken at Breehadeeswara Temple, Thanjavur.)

How soon the roles of life change! My daughters were now asking me the significance of this form of God. I shared with them a story of origin of Ardhanarishwara.

Sage bR^ingi is one of the ardent devotees of Lord Shiva. He used to worship only Lord Shiva and not Shakti. Goddess Shakti, being the power as the name indicates pulled out the energy from bR^ingi mahaR^ishi's body. Now he was even unable to stand. He pleaded to God. God Shiva provided him with a stick. On its support he stood and still worshiped Lord Shiva alone. Goddess Shakti wanted to become an inseparable part of Lord Shiva's form. She observed the kedhara maha vrata austerity, which is now known as deepavali. Pleased with her austerity, Lord Shiva granted her the boon of being part of His form. So the Lord now appeared male on the right side and female on the left side and hence became Ardhanarishvara.

See more of the World at: That's My World