Devikapuram

Around City - Devikapuram

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Another important religious spot in the district is Devikapuram. It is located at around 40 km from Arunachalam. Devi Periyanayaki Amman temple is mainly focused in this area. It is located in the center of the town, and Kannagagiri Eshwarar Temple is located in the top of hill Ponnmalai.

The temples in Devikapuram was constructed by the Chola King Thondaiman Chakravarthi. while the more ancient Kanakagireeswarar Temple on the hill is said to date back to the Pallava period. The current structure dates back to the Vijayanagar period as testified by the inscriptions seen in the Periyanayaki Temple.

Devi Periyanayaki Amman temple has the long corridor. The Rajagopuram stands tremendous with walls having excellent and highly skilled sculptures around. The temple has 3 enclosures. In the first enclosure, there is one big nandhi,36 pillared hall, idol of Lord Vinayaga and Lord Muruga.

There is also one holy tank in the first enclosure. Opposite to the spiritual tank there is a chariot fully sculpted in a single stone. The stone chariot is formed in such a way that it drags the Mandapam with couples of horses. In the mid Gopuram there are Pragaram of Nava Grahas, idol of Lord Nataraja, idols of first four Nayanmars and Devi Periyanayaki Amman.

In the second enclosure there is a idol of Siva in the form of lingam and lord Ganapathy, and the third enclosure consist of idols of various gods around Devi Periyanayaki Amman. History tells that previously the place was called as Devi Kezhpuram since Devi Periyanayaki Amman resides down to kanagagiri eshwarar who is on the holy hill Ponnmalai.