Among
the thousands of holy places through out India, some had achieved greater
significance than the others as the spiritual followers increase over the
times. Each region has one or two incarnation of the Lord Vishnu or other
Deities that they especially worship. Lord Rama is worshiped from Uttar
Pradesh to Bihar. In the western India is Lord Krishna, In Maharastra is
worshiped Vittala, In the southern region of Tamil Nadu is Lord Vishnu and
in Andhra Paradesh is Narashimha. Each region consists of one or two major shrines. There are the Guruvayur and the Padmanabha temples in Kerala, Sri Meenakshi in Madurai and Sri Rangam in Tamil Nadu. The famed Chamundeswari and Udupi in Karnataka and Tirupati in Andhra pradesh. The Pallava rulers, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Nayaks all have contributed to the Southern style of temple creation.
 |
 |
Architecture of the South Indian Temples
The South Indian temple design is in the typical Dravidian style that is usually made from stones. The shape of the temples may be rectangular, square, star shaped or octagonal. These temples in general have large towers known by gopurams places at the entrances. A vimana is the tower over the sanctum where the deities are placed while the large pillared hall with corridors are common in all the south Indian temple architecture.
Some temples dates back to more that 1700 years displaying a rich heritage of South India. The most sacred place in the architecture of the temples is the pitha, the pedestal, that is placed in the sanctum sanctorum or the inner sanctum. The sanctum santorum is topped by a pyramidal tower having several high storied called the vimana. Many temples have halls such as the ranga mahal intricately carved for occasional sacrifices and dance recitals. The main area to the halls are surrounded by a single wall of many miles in length.
Major South Indian temples :
 |
The Sri Krishna Temple is one of the
most important and the richest temple in the whole of South India.
Dedicated to Lord Krishna...
...more |
 |
 |
Legends opined that the Siva-Linga
in the Ramananthaswami Temple was installed by Lord Rama on his return
from the Island of Lanka after killing Ravana...
...more |
 |
|
The Ekambareswarar Temple is the 1st
of the 32 Tevara Stalam built in the Tondai region of Southern India...
...more |
 |
 |
The twin Meenakshi Amman Temple is
regarded as one of the largest and the biggest temples in India. Built
in the 17th century...
...more |
|
|
The first of the Vaishnava temples
in south India, the Sri Rangam temple is the premier amongst the 108
Vaishnava divyadesas...
...more |
 |
 |
Dedicated to Lord Thandayuthapani or
Lord Murugan the supreme commander of the celestial army, it is one of
the six famous abodes known as 'Aarupadai veedu'...
...more |
|
|
This is the temple dedicated to Lord
Shiva found in his famous dancing pose with one leg in the air and
consisting of four arms...
...more |
 |
 |
The Brihadeswara temple lies to the
southern part of the city of Tanjavur between the Grand anicut canal and
the Vadavar river. Dedicated to Lord Shiva...
...more |
|
|
The temple is at the foot of the
Arunachala Hill and is one of the largest temples in India. The
Vijayanagara ruler Krishna Deva Raya...
...more |
 |
 |
Designed by an Italian architect in
1636 AD, the Thirumalainayak Palace was the main palace where the King
Thirumalai Nayak lived. ...
...more |
|
The Shore Temple, located at
Mamallapuram, was erected during the reign of Rajasimha in the 7th
century AD....
...more |
 |
 |
Blending together Hindu, Muslim,
Rajput and Gothic style of architecture, the Mysore Palace is one of the
key tourist attractions in the city of Mysore...
...more |
|
Built in 1568 AD, the Jewish
Synagogue of Mattancherry is popular as the oldest synagogue in the
Common Wealth Countries.....
...more |
 |
|
|
