Karpaka Vinayakar Temple

Pillaiya patti Pillaiyar temple is an ancient rock-cut cave shrine dedicated to Ganesha, located at Thiruppatthur 1 km from Thiruppatthur bus stand or Thiruppatthur Thiruthalli Nathar Temple One of the Thevera templesclarification needed Sivaganga district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India.

In the cave temple, there are rock cut images of Siva and other gods as well as several shrines. The Agama texts found on stones in the temple help date the temple between the years 1091 and 1238. A unique Tamil image of Pillaiyar found in the temple helps to verify this dating. The presiding deity of the temple is Karpaka Vinayakar or Desi Vinayaka Pillaiyar.

As of today, the Pillayarpatti Nagarathar worshipers are involved in conducting daily worship services in the temple, as well as maintaining it. People from all over the state come to the temple for the worship of Pillayar, the Lord of Wisdom.

The Ganesh Chaturthi  Vinayaka Chaturthi festival, is celebrated for 10 days in a grand manner every year during the months of August and September.During that time, great numbers of pilgrims gather and participate in the Car Festival. Like all Shaivite temples, Pillayarpatti temple also has Lord Shiva as its presiding deity. The lord's name is Arjunapureeswarar.

 Pillaiyarpatti is located near Thiruppathur, Sivagangai District of Tamil Nadu. It is situated between Kundrakkudi and Tiruppatthur. Pilliyarpatti is 12 Kilometers away from Thiruppatthur and 3 kilometers from Kundrakkudi. Pillaiyarpatti Karpaga Vinayagar is carved out in a cave of Pillaiyarpatti Hillocks.

KANCHI KAILASANATHAR TEMPLE

The kanchi Kailasanathar temple is the oldest structure in Kanchipuram. Located in Tamil Nadu, India, it is a Hindu temple in the Dravidian architectural style. It is dedicated to the god Shiva, and is known for its historical importance. The temple was built from 685-705AD by a Rajasimha ruler of the Pallava Dynasty. The low-slung sandstone compound contains a large number of carvings, including many half-animal deities which were popular during the early Dravidian architectural period. The structure contains 58 small shrines which are dedicated to various forms of Shiva. These are built into niches on the inner face of the high compound wall of the circumambulatory passage.The temple is located on the banks of the Vedavathi River at the western limits of the Kanchipuram. It faces east. Its location, demarcated according to the religious faiths, is in one of three Kanchis, the Shiva Kanchi; the other two Kanchis are, Vishnu Kanchi and Jain Kanchi. It is 75 kilometres 47 mi from the Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. Kailasanathar is one of several notable temples in Kanchipuram, the others being Ekambaranatha, Kachapeshwarar, Kamakshi Amman, Kumarakottam Temple, and Varadaraja Perumal.The Kailasanathar Temple meaning Lord of the Cosmic Mountain, is built in the tradition of Smartha worship of Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya Sun, Ganapathi and Kartikeya, in Hinduism, a practice which replaced the Buddhism.Temple construction is credited to the Pallava dynasty who had established their kingdom with Kanchipuram also known as Kanchi or Shiva Vishnu Kanchi as the capital city, considered one of the seven sacred cities under Hinduism. 

VARADHARAJA PERUMAL TEMPLE

Varadharaja Perumal Temple or Hastagiri or Attiyuran is a Hindu temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu located in the holy city of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the Divya Desams, the 108temples of Vishnu believed to have been visited by the 12 poet saints, or Alwars. It is located in a suburb of Kanchipuram known as the Vishnu Kanchi that is a home for many famous Vishnu temples. One of the greatest Hindu scholars of Vaishnava VisishtAdvaita philosophy, Ramanuja is believed to have resided in this temple. The temple along with Ekambareswarar Temple and Kamakshi Amman Temple in Kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam abode of trio, while Srirangam is referred to as  The Koil meaning temple and Tirupathi as the Malai Meaning hill. Among the Divya Desams, Kanchipuram Varadaraja Perumal temple is known as the Perumal Koil. This is one of the most sacred places for Vaishnavites. There is another famous temple of Varadarajaswamy in Kurmai, of Palamaner mandal in Chittor District of Andhra Pradesh, called the Kurma Varadaraja Swamy Temple.

There is a belief that the temple was first built by the Pallava king Nandivarman II. Varadharaja Perumal Temple was originally built by the Cholas in 1053and it was expanded during the reigns of the great Chola kings Kulottunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola. In the 14th century another wall and a gopura was built by the later Chola kings. When a Mughul invasion was expected in 1688, the main image of the deity was sent to Udayarpalayam, now part of Tiruchirapalli District. It was brought back with greater difficulty after the involvement of local preceptor who enlisted the services of general Todarmal. Robert Clive, the British general during the colonial period visited the Garuda seva festival and presented a valuable necklace now termed Clive Maharkandi, which is adorned during a special occasion every year.

EKAMBARANATHAR TEMPLE

Ekambaranathar Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, located in Kanchipuram in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is the largest temple in the town of Kanchipuram and is located in the northern part of the town. The temple gopuram gateway tower is 59m tall, which is one of the tallest gopurams in India.
It is one of the five major Shiva temples or Pancha Bootha Sthalams each representing a natural element representing the element - Earth. The other four temples in this category are Thiruvanaikaval Jambukeswara water, Chidambaram Natarajar Sky, Thiruvannamalai Arunachaleswara fire and Kalahasti Nathar wind. It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams, where all of the four most revered Nayanars Saivite Saints have sung the glories of this temple.Legend has it that once Parvati, the consort of Shiva was doing penance under the temple's ancient Mango tree near Vegavathi river. In order to test her devotion Shiva sent fire on her. Goddess Parvati prayed to her brother, Vishnu, for help. In order to save her, he took the Moon from Shiva's head and showed the rays which then cooled down the tree as well as Parvati. Shiva again sent the river Ganga Ganges to disrupt Parvati's penance. Parvati prayed to Ganga and convinced her that both of them were sisters and so should not harm her. 

KAMAKSHI AMMAN TEMPLE

The Kamakshi Temple is a famous Hindu temple dedicated to Kamakshi, one of the forms of the goddess Parvati. It is located in the historic city of Kanchipuram, near Chennai, India and is popularly associated with Sankaracharya, one of the greatest Hindu gurus. The Meenakshi Temple in Madurai, the Akilandeswari temple in Thiruvanaikaval near Tiruchirappalli and this Kamakshi are the important centers of worship of Parvati as the mother goddess, in the state of Tamil Nadu. The temple was most probably built by the Pallava kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram, around 6 C.E.
The main deity, Kamakshi, is seated in a majestic Padmasana, an yogic posture signifying peace and prosperity, instead of the traditional standing pose. The goddess holds a sugarcane bow and bunch of flowers in the lower two of her arms and has a pasha lasso, an ankusha goad in her upper two arms. There is also a parrot perched near the flower bunch. There are no other Parvati temples in the city of Kanchipuram, apart from this temple, which is unusual in a traditional city that has hundreds of traditional temples. There are various legends that account for this fact. One of them according to Kamakshivilasa is that the Goddess had to absorb all the other shakthi forms to give a boon to Kama, the Hindu god of love. Another legend attributes it to the Raja Rajeswari pose of the deity that signifies an absolute control over the land under the deity's control. Legend has it that Kamakshi offered worship to a Shivalingam made out of sand, under a mango tree and gained Shiva's hand in marriage.

VEERA ANJANEYA SWAMY TEMPLE

ThePeople who had visited Madras City, which is presently known, as Chennai must have seen the grand and magnificent Kapaliswarar temple at Mylapore. The imposing Raja Gopuram will remain in our memory. When inside this temple we are far away from the maddening crowd and the hassle of the city. Sri Thirugyana Sampanthar is one of the great saints who had song in praise of Lord Shiva. Sri Thirugyana Sampanthar had song in praise of Lord Kapaliswarar, therefore it is believed that the temple had been in existence for a long time.Bhagawan Anjaneya swamy temple near Sanskrit college at Mylapore, Chennai is one of the oldest Anjaneya temples of Chennai. This temple is popularly known as thanneer thurai Anjaneyar koil in forties and fifties, since this temple is situated near thanneer thurai vegetable market. In those days there were very few temples exclusively for Anjaneyar in the whole of Chennai. Presently this temple is known as Luz Anjaneyar since Mylapore itself has three Anjaneyar temples.The Bhagawan Anjaneya Swamy of this temple is unique in many ways. Many scholars like Brahma Shri Anantharama Deekshithar, Shri Kripanantha Wariyar had given discourses on Ramayana at the Sanskrit College nearby this temple. Bhagawan Anjaneya Swami who is present wherever Ramanama is spelled, had heard the Ramayana from the temple itself. This Anjaneya Swami had seen more Ramabhakthas emerging after these discourses.ThePeople who had visited Madras City, which is presently known, as Chennai must have seen the grand and magnificent Kapaliswarar temple at Mylapore. The imposing Raja Gopuram will remain in our memory. When inside this temple we are far away from the maddening crowd and the hassle of the city. Sri Thirugyana Sampanthar is one of the great saints who had song in praise of Lord Shiva. Sri Thirugyana Sampanthar had song in praise of Lord Kapaliswarar, therefore it is believed that the temple had been in existence for a long time.Bhagawan Anjaneya swamy temple near Sanskrit college at Mylapore, Chennai is one of the oldest Anjaneya temples of Chennai. This temple is popularly known as thanneer thurai Anjaneyar koil in forties and fifties, since this temple is situated near thanneer thurai vegetable market. In those days there were very few temples exclusively for Anjaneyar in the whole of Chennai. Presently this temple is known as Luz Anjaneyar since Mylapore itself has three Anjaneyar temples.The Bhagawan Anjaneya Swamy of this temple is unique in many ways. Many scholars like Brahma Shri Anantharama Deekshithar, Shri Kripanantha Wariyar had given discourses on Ramayana at the Sanskrit College nearby this temple. Bhagawan Anjaneya Swami who is present wherever Ramanama is spelled, had heard the Ramayana from the temple itself. This Anjaneya Swami had seen more Ramabhakthas emerging after these discourses.

KAPALEESWARAR TEMPLE

The peaceful Kapaleeswarar Temple of Chennai is believed to be one of the oldest and most revered holy places of the city. The shrine of Lord Shiva, Kapaleeswarar temple is situated in Mylapore, a suburb of Chennai. The temple is an emblem of Dravidian style of architecture with giant gopuram tower. The temple has two entrances. Its fragmentary inscriptions exist since 1250 AD, though the architecture and structure of the temple is more related with the culture that prevailed in 16th century, when Vijay Nagar kings refurbished it. As per the tradition, Goddess Karpagambal is offered a garland made of gold coins named kaasu maala on the ritual of Friday worship.
The wife of Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati is worshipped in the temple in the incarnation of Goddess Karpagambal, which refers to the Goddess of the Wish-Yielding Tree. There is a godly story behind the name Mylapore as according to the Puranas, the divine Shakti offered her devotion to Lord Shiva in the form of a peacock. In Tamil, peacock is called as 'mayil'. Hence, the area surrounding temple was developed with the name Mylai. The original deity of the temple is placed at Kanchi Mel-Chitamoor near Tiruttani. The temple also features a number of Vahanas, Sanskrit word for Vehicles, such as the bull, adhikaranandi, elephant, bandicoot, peacock, goat, and parrot along with a golden chariot which is a recent tradition seen in the temple.
Though the clear picture about who built the temple is not known, it is commonly believed that the temple was originally built by Pallavas in the seventh century CE due to its reference in the hymns of the Nayanmars; however, the architecture of the temple seems to be just 300-400 years old.

GOLDEN TEMPLE

 The golden temple of Sripuram  is a spiritual park situated at the foot of a small range of green hills in a place known as Malaikodi in the city of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, India. The temple is at the southern end of the city of Vellore, at Tirumalaikodi. This was inaugurated on August 2007.The salient feature of Sripuram is the Lakshmi Narayani temple or Mahalakshmi temple whose Vimanam and Ardha Mandapam The temple is located on 100 acres of land and has been constructed by Vellore-based Sri Narayani Peedam, headed by spiritual leader Sri Sakthi Amma also known as Narayani Amma. The temple with gold covering, has intricate work done by artisans specializing in temple art using gold. Every single detail was manually created, including converting the gold chunks into gold foils and then mounting the foils on copper. Gold foil from 9 layers to 0 layers has been mounted on the etched copper plates. Every single detail in the temple art has significance from the vedas

PARTHASARATHY TEMPLE

The Parthasarathy Temple is an 8th-century Hindu Vaishnavite temple dedicated to the godKrishna, located at Triplicane, Chennai, India. The temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil literaturecanon of the Alvar saints from the 6th–9th centuries CE and is classified as among the 108 Divya Desams dedicated to Vishnu.The name 'Parthasarathy', in Sanskrit, means the 'charioteer of Arjuna', referring to Krishna's role as a charioteer to Arjuna in the epicMahabaratha.

It was originally built by the Pallavas in the 8th century by king Narasimhavarman I. The temple has five of the incarnation’s oravatars of Vishnu: Narasimhar, Ramar, Varadaraja, Ranganathar and Krishna.

The temple is one of the oldest structures in Chennai.There are shrines for VedavalliThayar, Ranganatha, Rama, Gajendra Varadharaja Swamy, Narasimha, Andal, Anjaneya, Alvars, Ramanuja, Swami Manavala Mamunigal and Vedanthachariar. The temple subscribes to Vaikhanasa agama and follows Thenkalai tradition. There are separate entrances for the Krishna and Narasimha temples. The gopuram towers and mandapas pillars are decorated with elaborate carvings, a standard feature ofSouth Indian Temple Architecture.

BRIHADEE SHWARI TEMPLE

The Peruvudaiyar Kovil is a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva, at Thanjavur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is an important example of Tamil architecture achieved during the Chola dynasty. It is also known as Periya Kovil,Brihadeshwara Temple, RajaRajeswara Temple and Rajarajeswaram, The temple is part of the World Heritage Site known as the "Great Living Chola Temples".It is one of the largest temples in India and one of India's most prized architectural sites. Built by emperor Raja Raja Chola I and completed in 1010 AD, Peruvudaiyaar Temple, also popularly known as the 'Big Temple', turned 1000 years old in 2010.Thanjavur Periya Kovil stands amidst fortified walls that were probably added in the 16th century. The vimanam or temple tower is 216 ft 66  high and is among the tallest of its kind in the world. The Kumbam Kalasha or Chikharam, the apex or the bulbous structure on the top of the temple is carved out of a single rock and it weighs around 80 tons. There is a big statue of Nandi sacred bull, carved out of a single rock, at the entrance measuring about 16 feet long and 13 feet high.The entire temple structure is made out of granite, the nearest sources of which are close to Tiruchirappalli, about 60 km to the west of Thanjavur.