1,100 Year Old Renovated Temple Rededicated

India has a very ancient and rich, multi-layered history but most of it is unknown to us in the West.  I'll bet just about everyone in this country (USA) knows what a mummy is, but how many know who Buddha is?  King Tut?  Sure - millions of us have heard about HIM!  But how many of us have heard about Kali Durga?  Check out this absolutely incredible and beautiful temple:

From The Times of India

Renovated 1,100-year-old Varadharaja Perumal temple in Kancheepuram consecrated
The writer has posted comments on this articleD MadhavanD Madhavan, TNN | Jul 5, 2012, 12.42PM IST

Sri Varadaraja Perumal Temple. Image from Travel Deals Finder.

KANCHEEPURAM: Thousands of residents in the temple town of Kancheepuram were a proud lot on Thursday as their restoration efforts along with the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) came to fruition with the kumbhabishekam being performed at the 1,100-year-old Varadharaja Perumal Temple.

The consecration ceremony began at 11am and went on till 1 pm. Hundreds of devotees lined up for more than a kilometre on Gandhi Road, the busiest stretch in the town. The district administration had declared public holiday on Thursday for the kumbhabishekam.

On Wednesday, a similar kumbhabishekam and chariot procession was held at the famous Sri Kodanda Rama temple in Madurantagam, around 78km from Chennai. "It is a huge event in the temple town. Years of hard work had gone into its restoration. The temple is always a pride of Kancheepuram," said S Jeeva, a resident.

Said to be the second oldest temple in Kancheepuram after the Ekambaranathar temple which has more than a thousand ancient temples, the Varadharaja Perumal temple was built by the famous Chola king Raja Raja I in 1053AD (a year before king Raja Raja died). Later, the temple on 23 acres was expanded by subsequent Chola kings, including Kulottunga chola I and Vikrama chola.

Anticipating a Muslim invasion in 1688 AD, the local chieftain sent the main image of the deity to Udayarpalayam, now part of Trichy. It was brought back with great difficulty after the involvement of a local preceptor who enlisted the services of general Todarmal of Vijayanagara era. During British period, Robert Clive visited the temple for the Garuda seva festival and presented a necklace (now termed Clive Maharkandi) which adorns the deity during the special occasion every year.

The temple showcases the architecture of ancient Vishwakarma Sthapathis with three outer precincts namely Azhwar Prakaram, Madai Palli Prakaram and Thiru Malai Prakaram, 32 shrines, 19 vimanams, 389 pillared halls (most having the lion yali sculpture) and sacred tanks.

One of the most famous architectural pieces in the temple is the huge chain sculpted from a stone. There is a 100-pillared hall with sculptures depicting Ramayana and Mahabharata, a masterpiece of Vijayanagara architecture. "There are 362 inscriptions on the walls of the temple ranging from Cholas to Vijayanagara periods," said retired deputy superintendent of state archaeology department, K Sridharan.