Sri Varadaraja swamy Temple Kanchipuram.

Kanchipuram a city of temples, there are more than a 100 temples in this town. the city is known for erudite scholars and well advanced in culture. The city has been praised by the great and well known who have visited it and have compared it to be a unique hub filled with scholars brave and of being pious as well. Its a unique city for sure even today as you enter the city one gets a feeling of its being a different place. The proximity of Kanchipuram to chennai has made it possible for us to visit this temple town ever so many times.
As Ka(Brahma worshipped Lord Vishnu here this place came to be known as Kanchipuram. It is a Satyavratakshetram. pilgrim centre known for its honesty. A city like Kanchi should definitely have an interesting past that it is very proud of. the city has the shape of a bow, the western part is higher than the eastern part, and to the south of the city the river Vegavati flows, the four magnificent towers of the Varadaraja Temple oversees the entire city. one is welcomed with numerous temple towers even as one enters the city. 
Brahma performed an asvamedha yagam in Kanchi near the Hastagiri hill Lord Vishnu appeared to him and blessed him Brahma requested the Lord to remain there and bless all people who visit the place. Kanchi is such a holy place that it is said that any thing done there once is equal to having done it a hundred times in any other place.
The Moolavar is facing west and in a majestic standing posture. his lower right hand is in abhayahastam pose, while the lower left hand holds a mace. the upper arms are depicted as holding the conch and chakra. the goddesses is residing on his chest.
The Goddess is Perundevi Thayar. /she is said to be a devoted wife she even never crosses the four walls of the temple. the float festival for the goddesses is also performed in the temple tank called Anantasaras.

The Temple is huge within a 23-acre complex and shows the architectural skills of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis in temple architecture and is famous for its holiness and ancient history. The temple has 3 outer precincts (prakarams) namely Azhwar Prakaram,Madai Palli Prakaram and Thiru Malai Prakaram.There are 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls (most having the lion type yali sculpture) and sacred tanks some of which located outside the complex. The other name of Varadaraja perumal is Atthigiri Aruzhalar.

The main sanctum faces west and can be entered through a 130 feet tall, 7-tieredrajagopuram (main gateway tower).The eastern gopuram is taller than the westerngopuram, which is contrasting to large temples where the rajagopuram is the tallest one.One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge stone chain sculpted in a single stone. There is a 100 pillared hall which has sculptures depictingRamayana and Mahabaratha. It is a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture.

The shrine of Varadarajaswamy is on a small hillock 10m tall and a flight of 24 steps, termed "Hasthagiri". It has murals of the late Vijayanagara empire on the ceiling.Another significant features of the temple are beautifully carved lizards and gilded with gold, over the sanctum. The vimana over the sanctum of Varadaraja Swami is called Punyakoti Vimanam and the one over Perundevi Thayar shrine is called Kalyana Koti Vimanam.

Apart from the main stone idol, the temple has the wooden image of Varadarajaswamy(Athi Varadar) preserved within a silver box from which water is pumped out every 40 years. There is a shrine of Narasimha on the hillock. The origin of the mask of Narasimha is mysterious and believed to possess inexplicable powers.

In the second precinct downstairs contains four shrines, of which the important one is of Malayala Nachiar (Kerala consort), presumably built during the Chera kings in the early 14th century.

The third precinct has the shrine of Goddess Perundevi Thayar - it is customary for devotees to visit the shrine first before visiting the main Perumal shrine.There are four small pillared halls, identical in structure, called Thulabara Mandapas built during the 1532 for a ceremony of Achutaraya of the Vijayanagara empire.

The image of Chakrathazwhar (Sudarsana) in the temple is depicted with six hands. There festival image of the temple has seven different images of Sudarshana depicted within the same Chakra.
One gets a feeling that the Lord is like an elderly person in our home who knows what is happening and who can be approached and would listen to you and advise too. 

Legend

Indra, the king of celestial deities, after getting released from the curse of Goddess Saraswati, installed the silver and golden lizards who were the witness of the ordeal. Brahma performed a yagna here, which was about to be washed away by the fast flowing river Vedavathi. The temple deity, Vishnu laid himself flat to stay the flow and the yagna was successfully performed. Vishnu emerged with brilliance of thousand Suns as Devarajaswamy and stayed here permanently.As is the case with the association of South Indian temples with a sacred tree, the name of the temple, Attigiri is derived from Atti tree, considered sacred to Vaishnavas.

Festival

The temple is famous for its huge umbrella used during festive occasions. During the bhramotsavam (major festival) in Vaigasi (May/June), thousands of people throng the temple and that increases at least by a two-fold during the garuda vahanam and ther festival (temple chariot).

On normal days the temple is generally free except for some locals and a few tourists.