Temples of Tamil Nadu - An approach

As we have mentioned before, the temples of Tamil Nadu are numerous. They vary according to their antiquity, traditions, regions where they are found and styles.  Some are ancient and some are of recent construction. Some are active and some are not. Some are well known and others are not. How does someone who has very little knowledge, experience at least some of these temples when there are such a bewildering number to choose from?

The earliest existent temples are around 1500 years or older. Some temples have been constructed on the sites of older places of worship and as such the actual sites are older than the current structures. So one approach would be to concentrate on the antiquity of the temples. Here too it becomes complicated because many temples were not entirely built in a certain era or period in history. Their construction spans multiple centuries. They were built upon by different dynasties that ruled this land. So these temples are the end result of about 1500 years of constant renewal, renovation and addition. Some other temples were built in a certain, single era by a single king or dynasty and have remained more or less untouched since.

Most temples are active temples and are places of active worship. People who visit these temples should take care to be respectful and not offend people who worship at these temples. Having said that most Hindu temples are very tolerant and welcoming places, although some temples have areas that are restricted to Hindus only. Most older, active temples are owned and operated by the government. Initially independent institutions, they were, except for a very few, taken over by the government in the 1920s. Today they are administered by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department of the Government of Tamil Nadu. Other temples which are not active are historical monuments and are administered by the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which is a an agency of the Indian Central Government or the Archeological Department of the Tamil Nadu Government. Access to these sites are generally less restrictive. Some have paid admission while others are free.

Temples can also be classified according to popularity and fame. If you type in "Temples of Tamil Nadu" or " Best Temples of Tamil nadu" or some such entry into a Google search you will end up with about 30 to 40 temples. These are but a handful of the temples in existence. They are well known because they are large and beautiful temples. To the faithful, they are also special due to their reputation as very sacred places of worship. It is difficult to define the line between well known and lesser know temples as it depends on the knowledge and experience of the person making these definitions. For the purposes of this blog we will define all temples that are not extremely well known as lesser known temples. It is an arbitrary and subjective definition.

Temples can be classified according to the main deity in the temple. There are temples dedicated to Shiva, Vishnu, Shakthy, Murugan and Ganesha. The majority of the temples are either Saivite (Siva is the primary deity) or vaishnavite (the primary deity is Vishnu). Numerous other temples are dedicated to Murugan, frequently identified as the Tamil god.  There also Jain temples which are mostly inactive. In addition there also ancient churches and mosques too.

The temples can be classified according to literary mention too. There are about 276 temples that are dedicated in the 7th to 9th century Saivite canonical work the Thevaram. These are called the Paadal Petra Sthalams. These sites can be safely dated to that period. The vast majority of them are in Tamil Nadu. There are another 150 or so sites that are casually mentioned in the Thevaram and are called Thevara Vaippu Sthalams. The most important Vishnu temples are known as the Divya Desams. They find mention in the Vaisnavite Tamil canonical work the Naalaira Divya Prabantha. They are 108 in number and most of them are in Tamil Nadu. Then there are the Arupadai Veedu or the 6 abodes of Murugan. There are other groupings according to their importance. We will explore these further on.

Tamil Nadu is a big state and has many regions. In ancient times these regions were different kingdoms. As such the temples can be classified according to region also. The very south including the area around Madurai and further south is Pandian country.  To the Northeast of it and with the delta of the River Kaveri as it centre including the ancient city of Thanjavur, is the Chola country. Further north along the coast the area around the current state capital of Chennai is known as Thondai Nadu. To the West, closer to the Western Ghats is the Kongu. Then there are areas like Nadunadu or centre country sandwiched between the Thondai and the Chola lands.

With this background, let us explore these temples over the next several posts.