Kailasanathar Temple

Getting there

• By road

  The temple lies west of Kanchipuram city, about 75 km from Chennai.

Rules to know

• Devotees must crawl through a narrow entry passage to walk the circuit around the main shrine.

Why devotees come here

Kailasanathar Temple in Kanchipuram is a Pallava-era temple dedicated to Shiva, and one of the oldest surviving monuments in the city. Painted walls in its courtyard cells hold one of the best early Hindu murals in Tamil Nadu.

The main shrine holds a 16-sided Shivalinga of black granite in the sanctum. Local belief says the temple served as a refuge for the kingdom's rulers when wars came. The building was raised around 700 CE, enlarged in the 8th century, and repaired in later centuries. Mahendravarman III, son of Narasimhavarman II, finished the front facade and the gopuram, the tower.

Unlike the rock-cut shrines at Mahabalipuram, which are carved into caves or rock outcrops, this temple is built of stone. Granite makes up its foundations, while sandstone forms the superstructure and the carvings. The vimana above the sanctum is square in plan and rises in a pyramidal shape.

Fifty-eight small shrines sit in niches in the compound wall that encloses the main shrine. The painted art on the inner walls of the courtyard cells is among the finest early Hindu murals in Tamil Nadu.

Festivals

• Evening hoursMaha Shivaratri

  The biggest festival here, when thousands of devotees come in the evening to pray to the main deity.

Tips for your visit

• Look up at the sandstone superstructure and carvings, which sit above granite foundations.
• Look at the murals on the inner walls of the courtyard cells.
• Look for the 58 small shrines set into niches in the compound wall that encloses the main shrine.

Questions people ask