Kanchipuram: The Temple City of Tamil Nadu

Kanchipuram is a holy city in south India around 70 kms from Chennai. It is considered as one of the seven holiest cities by the Hindus of India. In Hinduism, Kshetra is a sacred ground, a field of active power, a place where moksha (final liberation) can be obtained. One of the ancient scriptures called Garuda Purana enumerated seven cities as places that provide moksha to the aspirants, namely Ayodhya, Mathura, Haridwar, Varanasi, Avantika, Dvaraka, and Kanchipuram.

The city of Kanchipuram is famous for its temples and the silk garments produced here. The temples here are mainly attributed to the deities Shiva and Vishnu. Many say the number of temples in this city is beyond count and it is true. During our time here, we could see at least one or two temples on every single street and we understand how difficult it is to even put a count of how many temples there are in this city. However, there are around 108 Shiva temples and 18 Vishnu temples that are at least 1000 - 1500 years old. The silk garment is very famous for its texture. Many in south India visit this city to shop wedding clothes for the couple and the guests.

We spent 10 days in the city visiting temples and also walking around the streets of the city. As we stayed a bit away from the centre, we were able to calmly visit the places we wanted to see and get back to our calm home when we wanted. Each temple was so beautifully crafted with stone carvings and huge domes. The stone artwork was fascinating and it was humbling to stand next to those structures that were built almost 1500 years ago. The city itself had a lot of tourists coming from all over India as part of their pilgrimage. It is one of the main pilgrimage cities in south India apart from Madurai.

We stayed with a wonderful family who treated us like their own family members, especially Nora had a special place in their hearts. Just a few meters away from the house, there was a big community of people living in small shelters. When we used to pass by them they stopped us to interact and play with Nora. All the kids in the community knew Nora and they were eager to greet her whenever we passed them :)

We have lovely memories from this place. We are not sure when we will return, but if we do, we would love to go back to this loving place and relive these nice memories.