Address: Kanchipuram City: Chennai State: Tamil Nadu Location: South India Year of Construction: 1053 Type of Construction: Ancient Type of Building: Temple Dedicated To: Lord Vishnu Religion: Hinduism Importance: Hayagriva haya means horse, greeva means neck the horse faced form of Vishnu, is the Supreme God of Vidya or knowledge. Festival: Annual Brahmotsavam, Adhyayanotsavam Best Time: May-June,December-January Varadaraja Temple of Chennai : The Varadaraja Temple is one of the important shrines of Sri Vaishnavites, also known as "Hastigiri" and is one of the celebrated Vaishnava Divya Desams, located in Vishnu Kanchi or "the Little Kanchi".
Originally it was known as "Attiyuran". The main deity here is Varadaraja Perumal in a standing posture facing west and the Lord here is also known as "Devaraja", "Pranatharthihara", "Deva Perumal", "Athiyooran" and "Perarulalan". Varadaraja Temple with superb art has a magnificent history, which is associated with Sri Ramanuja, who used to serve here. Many miracles are said to have occurred. It was with his ministry that the temple, then already several centuries old, began to gain fame.
Situated in the northern part of Tamil Nadu, Kanchipuram is the city of thousand temples and one of the seven most sacred pilgrim centres for the Hindus. Even today, there remains about 126 temples in Kanchi and a few more in its outskirts. The city was the capital of the early Cholas as far back as the 2nd century BC and a Pallava capital between the 6th and 8th centuries.