Kanchipuram -- Overview Kanchipuram (Kanchi) is one of the oldest cities in India, on a scale comparable to Kashi (Varanasi), Ayodhya or Mathura. Kanchi finds its name mentioned in Mahabashya of Patanjali, a work categorized in the 2 BCE. It was a hugely popular city up to 8 CE, until Chola Kings and Pandya Kings propelled Thanjavur and Madurai, their respective capital cities to the forefront of recognition among the majority of India. Bharavi, a Sanskrit poet par excellence from 6th CE praised Kanchi as "Nagareshu Kanchi" in his poem, giving Kanchi the best status among cities. Kanchi naturally finds its place in early Tamil literature namely, the Sangam works. It was part of the Thondaimandalam region ruled by the Thondaiman Kings of Tamilnadu as seen from the Sangam Literature. The Pallava kings have contributed hugely to the popularity of Kanchi by making it the capital for their empire in South India. The Pallava Kings were among the earliest ones to start using stone for building temples in South India. Before that it is believed that the temples were made on perishable material like wood, brick and mortar. They started experimenting with Cave Temples first, then came the Monoliths (Single stone temples), and finally, the structural temple made of cut rocks. It is remarkable they were able to achieve all this while working on the hardest stone that is available in South India, namely the Granite. After constructing the shore temple in Mahabalipuram, which is a structural temple, the Pallavas went on to build other structural temples like Kailasanatha Temple, Vaikuntha Perumal temple and Kachapeshwarar temple in Kanchipuram to name a few. Among all these temples, the Kailasanatha temple is considered to be a master piece by the experts and art lovers. It was built by Pallava King Rajasimha. The Cholas, Pandyas, Vijayanagara and Nayak Kings took efforts to maintain, construct and expand these temples. Kanchipuram has about 100 temples today, and once it had more than 1000 temples -- giving it the status of Temple City of Tamilnadu. Kanchi is also famous for its handwoven silk sarees branded as Kanchipuram Silk Sarees, and is also, known as the Silk City. In the Hindu religious context, Kanchi is unique for it has very popular temples that are in worship today. The Shiva, Vishnu and Devi temples namely, Ekambareshwara Temple, Varadharaja Temple, and Kamakshi Amman Temple are known as Ratna-Tria (Three Gems) and they attract a huge number of devotees. Kanchi is considered as one of the Moksha Kshetras (place of liberation), and is the only one in South India. The other six are all in North India, namely: Ayodhya, Mathura, Varanasi, Haridwar, Avantika and Dwaraka. It is believed the both saints Adi Sankara, who established the Advaitha philosophy and Vidyaranya, the scholar and minister who established the Vijayanagar empire attained Moksha in Kanchipuram. Many of the temples in Kanchipuram have their praise sung by the Alwars (Vaishnava Saints) and Nayanmars (Shaiva Saints). Kanchipuram has 12 Divya Desams or among the 101 Divya desams in India that is of importance to the Vaishnava community. In addition, there is plenty to show that Buddhism and Jainism also thrived in Kanchi. Kanchi has an interesting connection with Buddhism. Bodhidharma (6 CE), who is hailed as the founder of Zen Buddhism is from Kanchipuram. He is believed to have travelled to China and stayed there at Shaolin Temple preaching Buddhism. Kanchi has also been visited by many foreign scholars like Huan Tsang (7 CE). Huan Tsang has recorded that Buddha has visited Kanchipuram. Tiruparuthikunram, a famous Jain temple is also locateåd here.
Great thanks to Siva Thiagarajan siva.durasoft@gmail.com
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