Varadharaja Perumal Temple

Getting there

• By air

  Chennai International Airport is the nearest domestic and international airport, about 72 km from Kanchipuram town.

• By train

  Kanchipuram railway station connects the town to the rail network. Southern Railway introduced special trains to Kancheepuram for the Athi Varadar festival.

• By road

  Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation runs daily buses to Chennai, Bangalore, Vellore, Salem and other towns. The Chennai to Bangalore National Highway, NH 4, passes the outskirts of the town.

Why devotees come here

Varadharaja Perumal Temple stands in Chinna Kanchipuram, on the eastern side of Kanchipuram town in Tamil Nadu. Vishnu is worshipped here as Varadharaja Perumal, and the deity image is made of fig wood.

The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams, the Vishnu temples visited by the 12 Alvar poet saints. Among them it is known as Perumal Koil. Legend says Brahma performed a yagna here when the site was about to be washed away by the fast-flowing Vegavati river. Another legend says the disciples of the sage Gautama were cursed to become lizards.

The Cholas renovated the temple in 1053, and the Chola kings Kulottunga Chola I and Vikrama Chola later expanded it. Around 350 inscriptions from many dynasties record gifts to the temple. The Atthi image, made of fig wood and 3 metres tall, was rediscovered in 1709, when the temple tank was emptied.

The temple covers 9.5 hectares. The main sanctum faces west and is entered through a seven-tiered gateway tower, the rajagopuram, 40 metres tall.

Festivals

• Vaigasi (May/June)Brahmotsavam

  The main annual festival draws thousands of people, and the crowd doubles during the Garuda Vahanam and the chariot procession.

• Last held 1 July to 17 Aug 2019; next due in 2059Athi Varadar festival

  The Atthi image is brought up from the temple tank for darshan.

Tips for your visit

• Visitors have complained that local autorickshaws overcharged them on the way to the temple.
• During the 2019 Athi Varadar festival, over 50,000 people queued on the second day of darshan.

Questions people ask