Kanchipuram Tourism - Religious, Historical, Cultural City
One of the country’s oldest continuously inhabited cities in India, Kanchipuram is the city which is religious, historical, cultural and entertaining clubbed in one. The history of this town is associated with the Pallava dynasty of four-fold glory, who established their authority in the ‘Thondai Nadu’ (the land of creepers). The earliest records of the Pallavas are inscribed in Sanskrit and subsequently in Tamil languages. The Prakrit inscriptions were made when the Pallavas were still a local dynasty ruling at Kanchipuram during 200 – 550 AD. Even today, people are drawn not to a monolith but a four-in-one city, the Buddha Kanchi, the Jaina Kanchi, the Shiva Kanchi, and the Vishnu Kanchi. All of them have histories stretching back at least a couple of centuries ago, with the Buddhist faith being the earliest to have laid foundations in the town.
According to the Girnar inscription of Emperor Ashoka, it is known that by the third century CE, Buddhism had registered its presence widely in South India. Significant portions of Manimekalai, a Buddhist epic from the later Sangam age, happened in Kanchipuram. Buddhaghosa, belonging to the fifth century CE, along with the monks Sumati and Jothipala, lived in Kanchipuram. For Jainism in Tamil Nadu, it has not been precisely determined. Though Jainism has spread in some parts of south India, predominantly in Karnataka, they have few footprints and those are in Kanchipuram dating back to the Sangam period. Two temples of Jain Tirthankaras built in the ninth century in Thiruparuthikundram are the signs of their presence. One is a temple to the eighth Tirthankara ‘Chandraprabha’ and the other is Trailokyanath temple, that has ‘Mahavira’ as the main deity in the sanctum. Emperor Krishnadevaraya, who did much to save Hinduism from Islam depredations, also contributed handsomely to the temple to help restoration works in the seventeenth century.
The region is highly dominated equally by Shaivite and Vaishnavite temples. Many of the temples are believed to be several hundred years old. For Vaishnavism, it is the renowned Varadaraja Perumal temple. The Vaishnavite ambience of Kanchipuram includes several other renowned elements of history, architecture, and literature. Apart from its temples, this small town is also known for its productive handloom industry. The main profession of the people living here in and around is weaving silk sarees, next to agriculture. Nearly 400 years of reputation in the weaving occupation, they are considered to be one of the pioneers for the best silk saree producers in the world. With the capital city Chennai as the nearest stop, Kanchipuram enjoys all the facilities for cosy living.