page_title: Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple
section_title: Architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Pandava Thoothar Perumal Temple / Architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Pandavathoothartemple
context_page_description: Pandavathoothar Perumal Temple or Thirupadagam located in Kanchipuram in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu, is dedicated to the Hindu god Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshipped as Pandava Thoothar Perumal and his consort Lakshmi as Rukmini.
  The temple is considered one of three oldest temples in Kanchipuram, the other two being Ulagalantha Perumal Temple and Yathothkari Perumal Temple. The temple is believed to have been built by the Pallavas of the late 8th century AD, with later contributions from Medieval Cholas and Vijayanagar kings. The temple has three inscriptions on its walls, two dating from the period of Kulothunga Chola I and one to that of Rajadhiraja Chola. A granite wall surrounds the temple, enclosing all the shrines and two bodies of water. There is a four-tiered rajagopuram, the temple's gateway tower, in the temple.
  Pandava Thoothar is believed to have appeared to Pandava.
context_section_description: The temple is located in Big Kanchipuram near the Ekambareswarar Temple. The main entrance of the temple faces east and the temple has a rectangular plan. The temple has a four-tiered rajagopuram and a single precinct enclosed in the walls. The Maha mandapa is believed to have been built by the Cholas, while the adjacent hall during the period ofVijayanagara Empire. The central shrine of the temple has a large image of the presiding deity Pandava Thoothar, which has a height of 25 ft (7.6 m). Such a large historical image of Krishna is one of its kind. The deity is seen seated in Arda Padmasana posture with his right leg bent to the basement. Since Krishna appeared as human form, there are only two hands to the deity, unlike other temples, where the presiding deities have four or more hands. The right palm depicts the Abhaya Mudra for protection and the left arm depicts Varada Mudra for giving boon. The shrine faces east and the vimana of the temple is called Bhadra Vimana. The preceding hall to the main sanctum, Mukha Mandapa, has bronze images of the festival deities of the temple and Azhwars. The most prominent of them is of Arulala Permula Emburamanar, the disciple of Ramanuja, whose image is rarely found in other Vishnu temples. The Shrine of Rukmini is located to the south of the main shrine and has the image of Rukmini. There are modern additions like Chakrathazhwar with an image of Narasimha on it reverse located behind the main shrine. Matsya Theertham, the temple tank, is located on the northeastern side of the temple.
caption: Image of the vimana
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