South India Temples

India being well known for its spirituality owns the splendid majestic colonial architectural temples in different states of South India dedicated to so many Lords with unique significance. Fascinate the land of diversity by witnessing the religious pilgrimage across the country. You will be spellbound by the grandeur of construction and will not leave the place without celebrating the artistic proficiency of the sculptors at the Brihadeeswara temple. Take a break from your monotonous life and find peace and joy at these temples.

Sri Krishna - Guruvayur Temple
Guruvayur Temple is one of the most famous religious destinations of South India and is a very sacred place especially for Vaisnavites. This temple is located in Thrissur district in Kerala. It is dedicated to Lord Vishnu and thousands of devotees visit this temple to offer prayers every day. In terms of visitors per day this temple is the fourth biggest temple in India. It is believed to be around 5000 years old and same goes with its main idol as well. Guruvayur Temple is also known as "Bhooloka Vaikuntham" which means "Abode of Lord Vishnu on Earth". The temple got its name from a Hindu mythological story in which Lord Brahaspati found a Statue of Lord Vishnu and he installed it at this place with the help of Vayu Dev – The God of Wind. The name Guruvayoor Temple is derived from the words "Guru" (mentor), "Vayu" (air) and "Oor" (land) so Guruvayur means "The Mentor God of the Wind and the Land". The sanctum sanctorum, locally known as Sreekovil is a two layered design which has copper roofing that is plated with gold. The Mahavishnu form enshrined here is carrying Shankha, Chakra, Gadha and Padmam. The Moolavigraha which is the most sacred idol of the temple is made of Pathalanjana Shila. Apart from this there is silver and a gold idol as well. The Vrishchika Ekadashi, which is one of the 24 Ekadashis of a year has special significance in this temple. This day is celebrated with great enthusiasm in the temple and a huge number of pilgrims visit Guruvayur Sri Krishna temple on this auspicious day.

Meenakshi Temple
Meenakshi Temple which is also known as Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple or Tiru- Alavai is situated in the temple city of Madurai in Tamil Nadu. The temple is dedicated to Goddess Parvati, also known as Meenakshi Amman and her consort Sundareswarar, also called Shiva. It is believed that Meenakshi Temple Madurai was founded by Lord Indra. When Indra found that the burden of his misdeeds was taken off by the Swayambu Lingam, he built a temple here and enshrined the Lingam. This temple is visited by almost 15000 visitors a day and on Fridays the number is increased to 25000. Meenakshi Temple was also a nominee among 30 "New Seven Wonders of the World". Meenakshi Temple Madurai is also the biggest temple complex in Tamil Nadu and is at the center of Madurai both geographically as well as spiritually. The Madurai Temple Meenakshi has four entrances and it is enclosed by high masonry walls. The city was designed in the shape of Lotus and somehow it has got square shape today and the temple is located in the center of it. The temple complex is spread over an area of 45 acres and the 12 Gopurams of the temple range from 45 m to 51 m in height. The tallest one is 51.9 meters. The Meenakshi Temple Shrine has gold Vimanam and it has an Emerald colored black stone image of Meenakshi Temple Tour. The Sundareswarar shrine is at the center of the complex and spread over one fourth of the area of the temple. Porthamarai Kulam is the sacred temple tank and the temple has many interesting and amazingly beautiful halls as well. Every year in the month of April "Meenakshi Thirukalyanam" festival is celebrated with much ado. This is the festival of divine marriage of Meenakshi Amman and Lord Sundareswarar.

Kanchipuram Temples
Kanchipuram is a famous temple city of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the bank of Palar River and also known as "Golden City of Thousand Temples". This city has a huge religious importance for Hindus and it is considered as one of the seven holiest cities in India. It is believed that in these seven cities, including Kanchipuram Temples, you can get Moksha. Moksha, according to Hindu mythology means attaining salvation from the life cycles forever, or the final release of soul from the cycles of life and death. The name of the city Kanchipuram is derived from the words "Ka", "Anchi" and "Puram" which means "Brahma", "Worship" and "Place" respectively. So Kanchipuram means the place where Lord Brahma worshipped. It is named so because according to Hindu mythology, Lord Brahma worshipped Lord Vishnu at this place.

Srirangam Temples
Srirangam, also known as Thiruvarangam is one of the most important religious destinations for Hindus as it is an Island where the famous Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple is situated. It is located around 7 Km from Trichy. Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, which is also known as Tiruvarangam is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Lord Vishnu reclines here in the form of Ranganatha. This Vaishanava temple is also one of the 108 Divya Desams in Srirangam Temples. The temple is one of the largest functioning Hindu temples and attracts a huge crowd of devotees every day. Srirangam Temples is believed to be built around 9th century by a Chola King who accidently found the idol of the Lord and then built temple for it. The temple is built in Dravidian style and the inscriptions in the temple belong to Chola, Pandya, Hoysala and Vijayanagar dynasties. The temple is spread over an area of 156 acres and it is also one of the largest religious complexes in the world. It is enclosed by seven walls and has 21 Gopurams including 236 feet high Rajagopuram, 39 pavilions and fifty shrines and many halls. The Ranga Vimanam over sanctum sanctorum has a shape of Omkara and is gold plated. The temple celebrates a twenty days long festival that includes Pagal Pathu, which is celebrated for ten days during day time and Ra Pathu, which is celebrated for 10 days in night time during the months of December and January. During the festival, songs and dance make this temple a real Bhoologa Vaikunta, the heaven on the earth. Apart from this Brahmotsavam is also a mega festival that is celebrated here.

Chidambaram Temple
Chidambaram is one of those temples where you will find Lord Siva and Lord Vishnu enshrined under one roof. This temple is also known as Thillai Nataraja Temple and Chidambaram Thillai Natarajar Koothan Kovil. Chidambaram Temple is mainly dedicated to Lord Shiva but it is religiously important for both, the Shaivites and the Vishnavites. The main deity Shiva presides here in Chidambaram Nataraja Temple form or the Cosmic Dancer form. The consort deity here is Sivakami Amman. This temple is also one of the famous Five "Pancha Mahabhoot Sthalam" temples which represent the five classic elements in which Chidambaram Temple represents the element "Akash" or Sky According to Hindu mythology, once Shiva was strolling in the forest of Thillai with Vishnu as his consort in the form of Mohini. In the same forests resided a group of sages who got enraged when they saw their wives getting enchanted with the beauty of this couple. They evoked snakes, tigers and demons but to no use as Shiva made snakes his ornaments and used the skin of tiger as his wardrobe. He immobilized the demon and started doing Anand Tandava dance on his back. Seeing all this, the sages surrendered and realized the truth of Shiva. Shiva is also known as Kothan here which means "The Lord of Dance."

Kalikambal Temple - Chennai
Kalikambal Temple is one of the most important religious tourist destinations in Tamil Nadu. This ancient temple is located in Chennai. It is dedicated to Kalikambal deity, also known as Kamakshi Devi and Kamateshwarar. The original location of this temple is believed to be near seashore and it was relocated to its current position during the British rule.

Tiruvannamalai Temple
Among all the major temple cities in South India, the city of Tiruvannamalai is one the most important ones for Tiruvannamalai Temple. The mount of Annamalai has been an abode of many Yogis and Rishis for a very long time. This city is also known for the famous Annamalaiyar Temple located at the foothills of the Annamalai. Annamalaiyar Temple is one of the most sacred Shiva dedicated temples. This temple is among 275 sacred places which were praised in hymns of Thevaram and it is also one of the six Athara Sthalams and is also called "Manipooraga Sthalam". There are five worshipping places of Lord Shiva which are associated with five classic elements or the "The Panchbhootas" and Tiruvannamalai is one of them. Annamalaiyar Temple is one of the Panchbhoot Sthalams and represents the element "Fire". According to Shiva Purana this is the place where you can get salvation from the endless cycles of life and death.