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Chennai
Temples The Kapaleeshwarar temple,
with a seven-tiered Gopuram, is
known for magnificent sculptures
depicting Puranic incidents. Sri
Kapaleeshwarar and Devi Karpagambigai
are in separate shrines. Lord
Vinayaka and Muruga are in smaller
shrines .
Lord Parthasarathi Temple of Lord
Vishnu with five sanctums is situated
in Chennai city, the capital of
the southern state of Tamil Nadu..
Each sanctum is dedicated to different
forms of the Lord as Sri Parthasarathi,
Narasimha, Rama, Ranganatha and
Varadaraja. This is one of the
108 Tirupatis of Lord Vishnu,
and many sages have worshipped
in this shrine and attained mukti
(salvation).
Kancheepuram,
one of the most sacred and religious
Hindu pilgrim centers in India
is also called the Land of the
Thousand Temples Some of the Famous
Temples are Kailasanathar Temple,Kamakshi
Amman Temple,Devarajaswami Temple-,Ulahalanda
Perumal Temple,Ekambareswarar
Temple,Chitragupta Temple.
The
Chidambaram temple houses the
Nataraja (Shiva in Ananda Tandava
pose; the Cosmic Dance of bliss)
statue. It is of great religious,
historical and cultural significance.
Chidambaram is one of the foremost
Shaivite shrines in India.Chidambaram
is one of the Panchabhoota signifying
the 5 elements of wind water,
fire, earth and space. The famous
Tamil poets like Sambandar, Appar,
Sundarar as well as Manikkavacakar
have sung verses in praise of
Chidambaram temple.Located about
58 kilometers from the town of
Puducherry, Chidambaram is a famous
temple town greatly revered by
the local folk and pilgrims.
Thanjavur
Temple : The Brihadeeshwara Temple
is one of the best temples in
South India, built by Chola emperor
Raja Raja I (985-1013 AD). This
is the Chola dynastys finest contribution
to Dravidian art.Brihadeeshwara
is a gigantic Lingam (about 8.7
metres high). There is a massive
Nandi at the portals of the temple.
It is the second largest monolithic
Nandi in the country.
Kumbakonam
is one of the oldest towns of
South India. There are numerous
ancient temples in the town and
also the famous Maha Makham Tank.
Besides, there is a temple dedicated
to Lord Brahma which is very unique
and rare in India. It is considered
one of the 7 important holy cities
of India. It is at a distance
of 38 km from Thanjavur.There
are many temples in Kumbakonam
dedicated to Lord Shiva also,
of which the temple of Adi Kumbeswarar
is considered very sacred.Kumbakonam
is famous for its Mahamaham festival.
This festival is celebrated every
12 years at the Mahamaham Tank.
Some of the other well known temples
of Kumbakonam are Sarangapani
Temple, Sri Nageswara Temple,
Sri Chakrapani Temple, Sri Kalyanasundareswarar
temple and a lot more.
Tiruchirapalli
that is popularly known as Trichy
stands on the bank of river Kaveri.
Trichy that is centrally located
in the South Indian state of Tamilnadu
is famous for its fusion architecture
and monuments.
The attraction point of Trichy
is a famous Vaishnavite temple
named Shirangam. This is one of
the biggest and most popular of
temples in India. The city also
boasts off a famous Shivite temple
called 'Thiruanaikka' that is
considered as one of the five
main abodes of Lord Shiva. But
the most important construction
in Trichy is the oldest man made
dam named Kallanai that was built
by Karaikala Chola across the
river Kaveri. Apart from that,
the Rock Fort and Pallavas temples
are other attractions in Tiruchirapalli.ock
Fort temple complex in Tiruchirappalli
is a conglomeration of three temples
- the Manikka Vinayaka temple
at the foot of the hill, the Uchhi
Pillayar Koyil at the top of the
hill and the Taayumaanava Koyil
(Shivastalam) on the hill. This
Shivastalam is a rock cut temple
on a hill in the most prominent
landmark in Tiruchirappalli (Trichy);
reached by a flight of steps on
the way to the famous Ucchi Pillaya
temple. This temple crowns a massive
outcrop of rock, that soars 83
metres upwards, from the surrounding
plains. It is reached by a steep
flight of 437 steps, cut into
the rock. Halfway up is the Sri
Thayumanaswamy Temple, dedicated
to Lord Shiva. It has a 100-pillared
hall, and a Vimana, covered with
gold. On the southern face of
the rock, are several beautifully
carved, rock-cut cave temples,
of the Pallava period.
Meenakshi
Sundareswarar Temple or Meenakshi
Amman Temple is located in the
holy city of Madurai, Tamil Nadu,
India. It is dedicated to Lord
Shiva (in the form of Sundareswarar
or Beautiful Lord) and his consort,
Goddess Parvati (in the form of
Meenakshi ). The complex houses
14 magnificent Gopurams or towers
including two golden Gopurams
for the main deities, that are
elaborately sculptured and painted.Madurai
is famous as the temple city and
is almost synonymous with the
famed Meenakshi Temple. Located
on the banks of River Vaigai,
Madurai.Meenakshi Temple attracts
pilgrims in thousands, from all
over India. The temple is named
after the daughter of a Pandyan
king who, according to legend,
was born with three breasts. At
the time of the birth, the king
was told that the extra breast
would disappear, when she met
the man she was supposed to marry,
and this happened when she met
Lord Shiva on Mount Kailas. Shiva
arrived in Madurai, later, in
the form of Lord Sundereswara,
and married her.
Rameswaram
town in Ramanathapuram district
in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
It is located on an island separated
from mainland India by the Pamban
channel and is less than 40 kilometers
from the Jaffna Peninsula, Sri
Lanka. Together with Kashi, it
is considered to be one of the
holiest places in India to Hindus.
Hence, it is a bustling pilgrim
centre. According to legends,
this is the place from where Lord
Rama, built a bridge Ram Setu(also
known as Adam's Bridge) across
the sea to Lanka to rescue his
consort Sita, from her abductor,
Ravana. This is also the place
where Rama worshipped Shiva to
be absolved of the sin of killing
Ravana, hence the name of Shiva,
which became the name of the town
- Rameswara (lord of Rama). Both
the Vaishnavites and Shaivites
visit this pilgrimage centre which
is known as the Varanasi of the
south.Rameshwaram is significant
for the Hindus as a pilgrimage
to Benaras is incomplete without
a pilgrimage to Rameswaram. The
presiding deity here is in the
form of a Linga with the name
Sri Ramanatha Swamy, it also happens
to be one of the twelve Jyotirlingas.
Kanyakumari
is located at the southern tip
of the Indian subcontinent. The
small temple dedicated to Kanyakumari,
or the youthful form of the primeval
energy Shakti (Mother Goddess)
is located on the seashore, in
the town known by the same name.
Kanyakumari was referred to by
the British as Cape Commorin.
Kanyakumari represents the site
where the spiritual leader Swami
Vivekananda spent days in meditation
upon a rock off of the coast.
A memorial built in his honor
is accessible via ferry. There
is also a recently built memorial
to Tiruvalluvar, the author of
the philosophical work Tirukkural
- a treatise on the Indian way
of life.The Kanyakumari temple
is an ancient one and has been
mentioned in the Ramayana, Mahabharata,
and the Sangam works Manimekalai
and Puranaanooru. It is believed
that the image of Kanyakumari
was installed and worshipped by
Parasurama, who is credited with
reclaiming Kerala from the ocean,
and building several shrine
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