Kailasanatha Temple (Kanchi Kailasanathar)

Kanchipuram

King Rajasimha, of the Pallava dynasty, built this Shiva temple in the early 8th century. It is an early structural temple, built of sandstone, and partly renovated in recent times. The modest scale of the temple, and the closeness of its enclosing wall, lend a feeling of intimacy to the surroundings.

Kailasanatha contains in embryo many of the features of the rapidly emerging South Indian style: gopuras, pilastered walls, a pyramidal shikhara, and a perimeter wall enclosing the complex.

Kanchipuram is a pilgrimage city. A former Pallava capital (7th - 9th century), it is filled with temples dating from the 8th - 17th centuries.