Kanchipuram

Why it is one of the Sapta Puri

A verse of the Garuda Purana calls seven cities givers of liberation: "ayodhyā mathurā māyā kāśī kāñcī avantikā, purī dvāravatī jñeyā saptaitā mokṣadāyikāḥ". Meaning: Ayodhya, Mathura, Maya, Kashi, Kanchi, Avantika and the city of Dvaravati, know these seven as givers of liberation. Kanchi is the fifth name in the list.

We read the verse in two places in the Uttara Khanda (Preta Kalpa) of the Garuda Purana: chapter 38 (verses 5-6) and chapter 49 (verse 114), in the Venkateshvara Press text. In both places the context is the tirthas where dying brings liberation. In the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana (first half, chapter 7) Shivasharman, a brahmin of Mathura, resolves to visit the seven cities (verses 42-43) and goes to the other six.

Kanchi in the texts and in history

In the Kashi Khanda of the Skanda Purana (first half 7.102-103) Shivasharman reaches Kanchi, stays seven nights and goes on to Dvaravati. According to Kanchipuram district the city was the Pallava capital and a seat of learning second in renown only to Banaras, and the district attributes the saying "nagareshu Kanchi" (among cities, Kanchi) to Kalidasa. According to the district the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham is believed to have been founded by Adi Shankaracharya.

The main temples

The Ekambareswarar temple is the site of the element earth among Shiva’s five Pancha Bhoota sthalas, where Shiva is worshipped as the earth linga; it has a sacred mango tree, a thousand-pillared hall and a Rajagopuram built by Krishnadevaraya (Kanchipuram district, Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham). The district calls the Kamakshi Amman temple the "Nabhisthana Ottiyana Peetham".

Varadaraja Perumal (Devarajaswami, Hastigiri) is one of the 108 Divya Desams (Kanchipuram district); according to the Kamakoti Peetham it stands in Vishnu Kanchi (Chinna Kanchipuram), and here Athi Varadar is shown for ten days once in forty years. The Kailasanathar temple was built in the 7th century by the Pallava king Rajasimha (Narasimhavarman II) and the Vaikunta Perumal in the 8th century by Nandivarman; both are protected by the archaeology department (Kanchipuram district).

How to reach Kanchipuram

• Air: Chennai International Airport (Meenambakkam), about 62 km away (Tamil Nadu Tourism).
• Rail and road: Kanchipuram railway station; trains come via Chennai Central or Arakkonam, and suburban (EMU) trains via Chengalpattu; Chennai is 75 km away (Kanchipuram district).

Main festivals

Where the sources differ

• In popular recitation the second line is also heard as "purī dvāravatī caiva". The Garuda Purana text in which we checked it reads "purī dvāravatī jñeyā". The verse says "saptaitā" (these seven), so "purī dvāravatī" is one city, the city of Dwarka, not Jagannath Puri.
• The Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham’s website calls this city the first or the foremost of the seven. The Garuda Purana verse only lists the seven names and ranks none; the other cities’ own sources also call their city the first.
• Ekambareswarar’s Rajagopuram: 192 ft on one district page, 57 m on another, 172 ft on the Kamakoti Peetham’s site. The Brahmotsavam: 10 days according to the district and Incredible India, a 13-day Panguni festival according to the Kamakoti Peetham. The Kamakoti Peetham dates its own founding to 482 BCE; that is the Peetham’s own statement.
• Distance to the airport: Tamil Nadu Tourism gives 62 km, the Kamakoti Peetham 61 km; to Chennai, the district gives 75 km, the Kamakoti Peetham 70 km.

Frequently asked questions