South India Temple Tour

South India Temple Tour is a wonderful theme around which you can plan your holiday in the upcoming vacation. The whole of south India, specially the state of Tamil Nadu, is dotted with numerous temples. These temples are not just India religious places, rather they are a treasure trove of stories from past - stories of their creation and development; the political patronage and hostility they faced in past; about various people associated with them and so on. For people not so religiously inclined, the architecture of these temples are something to look out for.

Here's a bit on some of the famous south India temples.


Tirupati Balaji - One of the most respected of the south Indian temples, the Tirumala Tirupati Balaji temple is located in the state of Andhra Pradesh on the seventh peak, Venkatachala (Venkata Hill) of the Tirupati Hill. The temple is dedicated to Venkata Nayaka or Sri Venkateswara, who has been declared extremely important deity by our ancient Indian Sastras. The temple has seen devotees in not just general public, but also kings from possibly all dynasties of south India. All these kings offered huge amount of money and jewels to this temple as a mark of their respect for lord Venkateswara. Even today, the number of devotees doesn't seem to be reducing at any cost as the line to worship the lord grows long every year.


Rameshwaram - For Hindus, a visit to Varanasi in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is considered extremely important, but what is noteworthy is that this pilgrimage trip to Varanasi is considered incomplete without a trip to Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu in South India. Rameshwaram is the place where Lord Rama built a bridge to rescue his wife from the captivity of Ravana, the King of Sri Lanka. This was also the place, where after winning the battle against Ravana, Lord Rama performed thanksgiving ceremony for Lord Shiva. The presiding deity here is Linga Of Sri Ranganatha which is amongst the twelve Jyotirlingas of India.


Meenakshi Temple - The Madurai Meenakshi Temple is also known as the Meenakshi Sundareswarar Temple, Meenakshi Amman Temple or Thiruaalavaai. The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva and his wife Parvati, who is known as Meenakshi is Madurai. The temple complex is one of the largest temple complexes in India that includes 12 gopuramas apart from two main gopurams in gold for the main deities