Tiruvelukkai

Tamil Nadu, India

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

Tiruvelukkai, located in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu, is a Hindu temple dedicated to Vishnu in Dravidian architectural style. Believed to have been built by the Pallavas in the late 8th century with later contributions from the Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagara kings, the temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams—sacred sites celebrated in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Alvar saints (6th–9th centuries CE). Despite being the smallest divyadesam in Kanchipuram, the temple earned a kamasikashtakam composition from the philosopher Vedanta Desika. Vishnu is worshipped here as Aḻagiya Singar (Narasimha), with his consort Lakshmi as Amruthavalli. The temple features a three-tiered rajagopuram (gateway tower) and is enclosed by a granite wall that surrounds the shrines and two bodies of water. Three inscriptions on its walls date from the Chola period (between 1018 and 1120 CE). Six daily rituals and three yearly festivals are conducted, with Krishna Janmasthami in the Tamil month of Avani being the most prominent.

Movement

Dravidian architecture

Type: Hindu temple
Place: Tamil Nadu, India

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Location

12.49000, 79.43000