Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram

Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram
(Kailasanatha Temple)
Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple
Religion
AffiliationHinduism
DistrictKanchipuram District
DeityShiva
Location
LocationKanchipuram
StateTamil Nadu
CountryIndia
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram is located in India
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram
Shown within India
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram is located in Tamil Nadu
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram
Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu)
Geographic coordinates12°50′32.3″N 79°41′22.8″E / 12.842306°N 79.689667°E / 12.842306; 79.689667
Architecture
CreatorNarasimhavarman II (Pallava dynasty)
Completedc. 700 CE (with later additions)

The Kailasanathar Temple, Kanchipuram, also referred to as the Kailasanatha temple, is a Pallava-era historic Hindu temple in Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu, India. Dedicated to Shiva, it is one of the oldest surviving monuments in Kanchipuram.[1] It reflects a Dravidian architecture and was built about 700 CE by Narasimhavarman II with additions by Mahendravarman III.[2] A square-plan temple, it has a mukha-mandapa (entrance hall), a maha-mandapa (gathering hall) and a primary garbha-griya (sanctum) topped with a four-storey vimana. The main sanctum is surrounded by nine shrines, seven outside and two inside flanking the entrance of the sanctum, all with forms of Shiva. The outer walls of the temple's prakara (courtyard) is also surrounded by cells.[2]

The Kailasanathar temple is notable for its intricately carved galaxy of Hindu art in the late 7th- and early 8th-century Tamil tradition. These largely relate to Shaivism, yet also include significant number of themes from Vaishnavism, Shaktism and Vedic deities.[3] The temple is also notable for one of the early and best specimens of Hindu mural art in Tamil Nadu. This is found in the inner walls of the courtyard cells. The murals are in a style that is also found in the Ajanta Caves, as well as in the historic paintings in the 8th-century Vaikunthaperumal temple, also in Kanchipuram.[4] The temple walls have many inscriptions in early scripts, important to the epigraphical study of regional history and Tamil temple traditions.[5]

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.[6][7] The temple is one of the most prominent tourist attractions of the city.[8]

  1. ^ Emma Stein (2017), All Streets Lead to Temples: Mapping Monumental Histories in Kanchipuram, Yale University Press, pp. 23–25, 41–44
  2. ^ a b K.R. Srinivasan (1972), Temples of South India (Editor: B.V. Keskar), National Book Trust, p. 115–116
  3. ^ Emma Stein (2017), All Streets Lead to Temples: Mapping Monumental Histories in Kanchipuram, Yale University Press, pp. 47–51
  4. ^ S Paramasivan (1938), Technique of the Painting Process in the Kailasanatha and Vaikunthaperumal Temples at Kanchipuram, Nature, No. 3599 (October 22), Nature Publishing Group, p. 757
  5. ^ Kaimal, Padma (2021). Opening Kailasanatha: The Temple in Kanchipuram Revealed in Time and Space. University of Washington Press. pp. 3–4. ISBN 978-0-295-74778-1.
  6. ^ "Kailasanathar Temple". National Informatics Centre of Government of India. Archived from the original on 30 July 2013. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
  7. ^ Karkar, S.C. (2009). The Top Ten Temple Towns of India. Kolkota: Mark Age Publication. p. 45. ISBN 978-81-87952-12-1.
  8. ^ Gopal 1990, p. 175.