One long weekend we decided to visit Kanchipuram more on a social visit to a relatives house. After visiting the famous Kamatchi Amman Temple and Ekambareswarar Temple, on our way back, we saw an ancient temple just about 500 m away from their house. This board at the entrance made me curious and stop at the gates to make a visit here.
As I entered the gates of this temple I was awed at the peace and well maintained greenery. It lacked the usual thronging of devotees and it's serenity and carved structure brought a beauty of its own all around.
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| view of the temple from the road |
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| the entrance to the sanctum |
This temple is situated right in the middle of residential buildings and is popularly known as The Thiru Parameswara Vinnagaram or Vaikunda Perumal Temple. It is dedicated to the Hindu God Vishnu. Lord Vishnu is worshiped as Vaikuntanathan and his consort Lakshmi as Vaikundavalli here.
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| the outer premise of the temple |
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| the outer structure of the temple |
Vaikunda Perumal temple is believed to have been built by the Pallava king Nandivarman II (720-96 CE), with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagar kings. It's architecture is of the Dravidian style, with lion faced pillars around the corridors resembling that of at The Thousand Pillar Hall at Madurai.The temple is said to have been surrounded by a granite wall enclosing all the shrines and water bodies of the temple.
Pallavamallan was a worshipper of Vishnu and a great patron of learning. He is said to have renovated old temples and built several new ones. One amongst them is the Vaikunta Perumal temple. The walls around the temple has inscribed panels of sculpture portraying the events leading up to the accession of Pallavamalla to the throne.
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| the grey stones seen here are said to be melting hence no one is permitted to walk on them |
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| the corridor around the temple with the lion faced pillar on one side and carved sculptures on the walls |
Three sanctuaries host the image of Vishnu in different postures here - seated form(ground floor), reclining (first floor; accessible to devotees only on Ekadashi days) and standing pose(second floor; inaccessible to devotees). The temple's architecture is said to have been a prototype for the much larger shrines which were constructed later all over Tamil Nadu. This temple is now under the maintenance of Archaeological Survey of India. It wears a worn out look standing tall for 3000 years. The priest here says that the stones have started to melt due to age and erossion. Adequate measures are being taken to safeguard the inscriptions and sculptures by the Government now.
The Vaikunta Perumal Temple temple is classified as a Divyadesam (Divine Places)- and is one of the 108 Vishnu temples that are mentioned in the Vaishnava canon. The temple is one of the fourteen Divyadesams in Kanchipuram and is part of Vishnu Kanchi, the place where most of the Vishnu temples in Kanchipuram are located.
I would recommend a visit to this peaceful temple as a must do when traveling to Kanchipuram be it for the Silk Saree shopping or as a pilgrimage.
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