Kanchipuram
 |
Kanchipuram temple, engraved in 1811. |
Kanchipuram,
Kanchi, or
Kancheepuram (also sometimes Conjeevaram) is the name of a temple town and the headquarters of
Kanchipuram district in
Tamil Nadu,
India. In ancient times it was called Kachi and Kachiampathi.
Kanchipuram is located on the
Palar River, and known for its temples and silk sarees. There are several big temples, notably
Ekambaranatha Temple which is one of the five form of abodes of Lord Siva, (it is the earth abode here, other abodes include Chidambaram(Sky), Kalahasthi (air), Thiruvanikoil (water) and Thiruvannamalai (fire)),
Kamakshi Amman Temple,
Varadharaja Perumal Temple,
Kumara Kottam,
Kachapeshwarar Temple,
Kailasanathar Temple and many more. Kanchipuram is also famous for its
silk sarees, which are woven manually. These saris are considered to be of the highest quality all almost every relatively well-off
South Indian woman has a Kanjivaram sari in her collection. The Kanjivaram saris woven at Kanchipuram are also prized in
North India.
|
The temple tower at a Kanchi temple |
Kanchipuram is one of the oldest cities in
South India, and was a city of learning for both
Tamil and
Sanskrit, and was believed to be visited by
Hsuan Tsang. It was during the reign of
Pallava dynasty, from the
4th to the
9th centuries that Kanchipuram attained its limelight. The city served as the Pallava capital, and many of the known temples were built during their reign. According to Alex Doss, President of the Tamil Sangam
SDSU, Bodhidharma took
Shaolin kung fu and
Zen from Kanchipuram to the
Far East and was the son of a Pallava king.
The king of Kanchi,
Pallava Mahendravarman I was a great scholar and musician, a man of great intelligence and also a great playwright.
Yuan Chwang, the great Chinese traveler, visited the city in the 7th century and said that this city was 6 miles in circumference and that its people were famous for bravery and piety as well as for their love of justice and veneration for learning. He further recorded that
Buddha had visited the place. As regards learning, Kanchi stood second in glory only to Banaras.The history of Kanchi can be traced back to several centuries before the advent of the Christian era. The place finds its name in
Patanjali's
Mahabhashya written in the second century BCE
Manimekalai, the famous Tamil classic, and
Perumpanatru Padai, a great Tamil poetical work, vividly describe the city as it was at the beginning of the Christian era.
Pattupattu, one of the
sangam literatures records that the king Thondaiman Ilandirayan ruled this town around 2500 years ago.
From the 3rd to the 9th century CE Kanchi was the capital of the Pallavas who ruled over the territory extending from the
river Krishna in the north to the river
Kaveri in the south. The Pallavas fortified the city with ramparts, moats, etc., with wide and well laid out roads and fine temples. They were a great maritime power with contacts with far-off China, Siam, Fiji, etc., through their chief Port
Mamallapuram, the modern Mahabalipuram. The
Cholas ruled this town from 10th century to 13th century. Kings of
Vijayanagara dynasty ruled from 14th century to 17th century. The temple tower, 192 feet height in Ekamabaranadhar temple and 100-pillar mandabam (building) in Varadaraja Perumal temple in this town are famous for the architectural techniques of Vijayanagara dynasty.
Robert Clive, of the
British East India Company, who played a major role in the establishment of British rule in India, is said to have presented an emerald necklace to this temple (the Clive makarakandi, still used to decorate the Lord on ceremonial occasions). Kanchi was a major seat of Tamil learning as well as an important place of pilgrimage for Buddhists, Jains and Hindus. Once the seat of learning and religious fervour started its climb down from the
Mughal invasions followed by three centuries of colonial rule under the British.
Kanchipuram is also the seat of the
Kanchi maţha, a religious institution that became influential and famous under the leadership of Shri
Chandrashekarendra Saraswati. This maţha says that Ādi Sankara settled in Kanchipuram after establishing four Āmnāya
maţhas in the four corners of India and that this gave rise to the Kanchi maţha. However this claim is disputed by the four original mathas who claim the Kanchi matha is only a branch matha. The followers of Kanchi math however claim that this Matha was temporarily shifted to Kumbakonam because of which it was known as Kumbakonam Matha for sometime, and that later the Matha shifted back to Kanchipuram.
Today, apart from its temples, this small town is also known for its thriving handloom industry. Kancheepuram town is also known as Silk City since the main profession of the people living in and around is weaving silk sarees,more than 5,000 families are engaged in this industry. The silk weavers of Kanchi settled more than 400 years ago and have given it an enviable reputation as the producer of the best silk sarees in the country. Woven from pure mulberry silk and have an enviable reputation for texture, lustre, durability and finish. The sarees in dazzling colours are available in every imaginable design and variety, which can make the job of selection quite challenging.
*
Kanchipuram*
Temples in Kanchipuram*
Gateway to Kanchipuram District*
Sri Viswaroopa Panchamukha AnjaneyaSwami Ashram near Kanchipuram*
Kanchipuram Sarees
