11 Famous Places to Visit in Kanchipuram, Things To Do

Are you planning a trip to Kanchipuram? Here we have handpicked some of the most popular places to visit in Kanchipuram for sightseeing.

Kanchipuram is one of the most beautiful cities in the Indian state of Tamilnadu, in Tondaimandalam region. It is also referred as Kanchi by the local people.

The city is located at the banks of Vegavathi River with a great historical background. Kanchipuram is also considered as one of the seventh Tirtha (pilgrimage) for spiritual release.

Kanchipuram is the headquarters of kanchi matha, a Hindu monastic institution which is believed to be found by Hindu saint Adi Shankarachrya.

Recently it has been chosen as one of the heritage cities for HRIDAY – Heritage City Development and Augmentation Yojana scheme of government of India. Let’s see below some of the best places to visit in Kanchipuram.

Most Popular Places To Visit in Kanchipuram

Table of Contents

Kamakshi Amman Temple

The kamakshi Amman Temple is an ancient Hindu temple of Goddess Kamakshi, who is considered as ultimate form of Goddess Lalitha Maha Tripurasundari.

The temple is a Dravidian architecture and believed to be built by Pallava Kings, whose capital was Kanchipuram. It is considered as one of the important centers of worship of goddess in Madurai.

The temple has a beautiful and mesmerizing structure. The image of main diety goddess Kamakshi is fascinating, Goddess Kamakshi is seated in a majestic Padmasana, a yogic posture signifying peace and prosperity.

Many festivals including Chariot (Ther), float (Theppam), Navaratri, Aadi etc. are celebrated by the temple authorities in the month of March, April, July and August.

You can visit this temple in the month of vaisakhi to attend special festival celebration. It is one of the most famous places to visit in Kanchipuram.

Varadharaja Perumal Temple

Varadhraja Perumal Temple which is also referred as Hastgiri/ Attiyuran is a Hindu temple of Lord Vishnu. It is located in the holy city of kanchipuram, Tamilnadu. It is one of the divya desam, the 108 temples of Vishnu believed to be visited by Alwars, the Tamil poet-saint of south India.

The temple is located in the suburb named Vishnu Kanchi which is considered as a home for many Vishnu temples. This temple including other two temples in kanchipuram is popularly known as Mumurtivasam. This is a Dravidian architecture and believed to be built by Chola Kings.

Temple has around 350 inscriptions from various dynasties like chola, Pandya, Telugu Chodas, Cheras, Hoysala and Vijayanagara indicating various donations to the temple and also political situations of Kanchipuram.

Kailasanathar Temple

The Kailasnathar Temple is one of the oldest temples with a Dravidian structure believed to be built in 685-705 AD by Rajasimha Ruler of the Pallava Dinasty. This historical structure contains 58 small shrines which are dedicated to forms of shiva. It is located on the banks of Vegavathy River. It has two outstanding sculpture of lord Shiva which is seen holding the veena in the hand. The veena is much more different than today’s veena structure.

The murals on the inner walls of the temple are well preserved. We can also see eight small shrines beautifully decorated at the entrance wall. The pillars of the temple have multi-directional mythical lions. It is most prominent tourist attractions and amongst the popular places to visit in Kanchipuram because of its mesmerizing structure.

Also Read Best Places To Visit in Rameshwaram – The Land of Lord Rama

Ekambaranathar Temple

This is a Hindu temple of God Shiva, located in town of Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu. This temple is considered to be one of the largest in temple with 25 acres area. It has four towers which are called as Gopurams. Out of these the southern tower is the tallest one with 180ft height and has 11 stories.

This temple also houses numerous shrines. This temple also has numerous halls, out of those ‘thousand-pillared hall’ is the most prominent which was built during the vijaynagar period.

This temple celebrates many early festivals but Panguni Uthiram festival is most popular as it is celebrated for 13 days during the Tamil month of Panguni. So, tourists are advised to visit the temple during festival time to enjoy the celebration.

Kanchi Kudhil

Kanchi Kudhil is famous as a mini-Kanchipuram. It is the best place to experience the old kanchipuram world. This is a traditionally structured house built a century ago. This can also be referred to as a heritage museum featuring traditional kanchipuram antiques, photos and art.

This museum takes you to the old world; you can see their kitchen, living rooms, tools, equipment and utensils used by previous people in their routine life. It is very mesmerizing experience to see all those antique and beautiful rangolis in every room.

They have excellent vegetarian food and a great shopping area where you can buy a souvenir in the remembrance of this place. It is located at SVN Pillai Street in kanchipuram. People who enjoy watching antique things would definitely love this place.

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary

Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary is one of the best places to visit in Kanchipuram for nature lovers and bird watchers. It is a 74 acre protected area located in kanchipuram district.

This place is near to Chennai as well with 75 KM on NH45. Every year during migration season more than 40,000 birds from various parts of the world visits this place.

Also Read Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary Entry Fee, Timings, Nearby Attractions

Because of the beautiful lake located in this area which acts as a feeding ground, it attracts many birds to this place. We can see birds like pintail, garganey, grey wagtail, common sandpiper and many.

This area was favorite spot for hunting in the 18th century and hence named as a Vedanthangal which means ‘hamlet of the hunter’. The best time to visit this sanctuary is from November to March.

Kachabeswarar Temple

It is a very nice, traditional lord Shiva temple located at the heart of kanchipuram. A big pond is present at the center of the temple which enhances its beauty. It is considered as the most neat and clean temple.

The temple is open from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm. It has four daily rituals. The original structure is believed to build by cholas while in the 16th century the present masonry structure is built by Nayak.

It is one of the shrines of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalam – Shiva Sthalam. The temple authority celebrates many festivals yearly but Brahmotsavam is the prominent festival. This is celebrated for nine days during the Tamil moth of Masi and Chitra Pournima. During these nine days of brahmotsavam, the event of Shiva feeding sundarar is enacted.

Vaikunda Perumal Temple

Vaikunda Perumal temple is a historical temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. This temple is located in Uthiramerur, a village in Kanchipuram district.

The temple is of Dravidian style architecture originally built by pallava and later modified by Chola. This temple was declared as a heritage monument and administered by Archeological survey of India.

The uniqueness about this temple is the roof of the temple rests on the walls and there are no pillars. We can see a Stucco image of Narasimha on the vimana.

The inscription of the temple indicates that the villagers requested the ruler to choose their own representative. And then the Kudavolai system was used for the election.

Here Kudam in tamil means pot and volai means palm leaf leading to the name of Kudavolai.

Devarajaswami Temple

This temple is constructed in the rule of Vijayanagar Kings. This traditional temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu. The Lord Vishnu idol of this temple is taken out once in every forty years. Last it was taken out in the year 1979.

The temple has five huge corridors and two tanks which are called as Anand Saras and Glden Lotus tank.

We can also see a marriage hall at the temple premises. It is believed that this marriage hall was built to honor the wedding of Lord Vishnu to Goddess Laxmi.

There are many yearly festivals celebrated in this temple including Brahmotsavam. This festival is celebrated for 10 days. So tourist can visit the temple during this time to enjoy and experience the celebration.

Anna Memorial

Anna memorial popularly referred as Anna Samadhi by local people of Chennai. It is a memorial structure built on the Marina Beach in Chennai. It is a prominent tourist attraction for the people who visit Marina Beach. It was built in the memory of C. N. Annadurai, The former chief minister of Tamil Nadu who was cremated here in 1969.

When you visit this place you can notice an arch that is shaped like an elephant tusk. This place consumes an area of about 510 hectares. The memorial has a museum, safari park, aquarium and animal house.

In modern days it is also referred as Anna Square by new generation. This is one of the best places to visit in Kanchipuram for kids as it has lot entertainment factors for kids.

Jaina Kanchi OR TIRUPPARUTTIKUNRAM

Kanchipuram has not only had a history related to Hindu religion but has also Jainism background. The historical and popular temple is Jaina Kanchi OR Tiruparuttikunram. There are two temples of Vardhaman Mahaveer and Chandra Prabha. The temple has a huge idol of bhagwan Mahaveer. The Mahaveer temple has been built in 6th century and the Chandraprabha temple was built in 8th century.

Chandraprabha is the main deity in this temple. These both temples are maintained by Tamil Nadu State Archeology department. The beauty of the temple is so divine and mesmerizing that you will feel all the positivity inside your body when you will visit this place. This temple reminds and informs us about the Jain dynasty in kanchipuram.

Best Time To Visit Kanchipuram

By weather perspective, in winter kanchipuram is much cooler than usual and in summer the temperature varies from 21 to 37 degree centigrade. So you can visit kanchipuram as per your weather preference. Second perspective comes is crowd. During festivals the crowd is always larger in amount than usual days.

So if you have a crowd phobia then you can avoid visiting kanchipuram during festive days. And if you want explore the festivals then you are always welcome and can enjoy the festivals too. The rainy season can be avoided as heavy rain fall may make your trip inconvenient.

How To Reach Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram is reachable through air, rail and road. Chennai International Airport is most nearest airport to kanchipuram. There are multiple flights that ply to Kanchipuram. The kanchipuram railway station has limited connectivity. Chennai, Pondicherry, Nagaercoil and Madurai are the connected rail lines to kanchipuram. The best route is Kanchipuram-Chennai, it is interlinked road.

Number of private tourist transportation will be available from Chennai to Kanchipuram. Bangalore, Tirupati, Pondicherry and Tiruchirapalli are also connected to kanchipuram by road with approachable distance. So you can choose whichever comfortable transport to you.

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