Temples in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is where the deepest layers of temple worship in Bharat are still in daily use, and the Tamil temples listed here gather into a few great streams. All six Arupadai Veedu abodes of Murugan stand here — Thiruparankundram and Pazhamudircholai on either side of Madurai, Tiruchendur on the Bay of Bengal, Palani on its hill in Dindigul district, Swamimalai in the Kaveri delta and Thiruthani north of Chennai — the circuit fixed for all time by Nakkirar's Sangam-era Tirumurugatruppadai. On its island in the Kaveri stands Srirangam's Ranganathaswamy temple, foremost of the 108 Divya Desams and known as Bhooloka Vaikuntam, 'Vaikuntha on earth'. And at Rameswaram, where the Ramayana places Rama's worship of Shiva before the crossing to Lanka, the Ramanathaswamy temple is at once a Jyotirlinga and one of the four Char Dham.

The Devi holds two of her most celebrated southern seats in the same state: Meenakshi Amman at Madurai, whose Thirukalyanam — the marriage of Meenakshi to Sundareswarar — is the climax of the city's Chithirai festival, and Kamakshi Amman at Kanchipuram, one of the Sapta Puri and the principal Shakti shrine of the Kanchi tradition. The geography sorts itself into three bases. Madurai covers Thiruparankundram, Pazhamudircholai and Meenakshi, with Rameswaram about 173 kilometres east on NH87 — roughly three hours — and Tiruchendur further down the coast. Tiruchirappalli anchors Srirangam and the delta run to Swamimalai near Kumbakonam. Chennai now holds temples of its own — Kapaleeshwarar at Mylapore and Parthasarathy at Triplicane, both inside the city — and reaches Thiruthani at about 87 kilometres and Kanchipuram, where Varadaraja Perumal stands in the same town as Kamakshi Amman, at about 74, both easy day trips.