UNESCO has a list of 29 World Heritage sites in India out of which four of them are in Tamil Nadu. They are as follows:1. Airavateswara Temple near Kumbakonam.
2. Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple) at Thanjavur
3. Monuments at Mahabalipuram near Chennai
4. Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple at Jayakondam.
Airavateswara Temple near Kumbakonam
Airavateswara Temple referred as the Great Living Chola Temple by UNESCO and was declared as the UNESCO heritage site in the year 2004. This is a Hindu Saivaite temple built in the 12th century by Rajaraja Chola II. Airavateswara Temple is located in a place called Darasuram near Kumbakonam.
This main deity of the Airavateswara temple is Lord Shiva, who is named as Airavateshwara. The story behind this Airavateshwara temple is Indra's white elephant "Airavata" who suffered from color change because of a curse from Durvasa Munnivar. Airvata worshipped Lord Shiva and had a bath in the temple tank which restored its color. Thus the lord was named as Airavateshwara and the temple as Airavateshwara temple.
Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple at Jayakondam
Gangaikonda Cholapuram, the capital of the Cholas was built by Rajendra Chola I who is the son of Great Rajaraja Chola. This temple was built after he captured the Ganga dynasty. The Gangaikonda Cholapuram Temple is one of the famous temple of Lord Siva which stands as a remarkable example of the architectural skills of the Cholas. The place was well-planned and structured in accordance to stand as the headquarters of the Cholas.
Brihadeeswarar Temple (Big Temple) at Thanjavur
Thanjavur is a place well-known for its art and architecture. The
Brihadeeswarar Temple was recognized as UNESCO's World Heritage Site in the year 1987. The Big Temple or Brihadeeswarar Temple stands in the center place of Thanjavur. This is the world's first granite temple which portrays the temple architecture of the Cholas. The temple was built by RajaRaja Chola I and it took about 6 years for completion. The temple was name as Rajarajesvaram and the main deity Lord Shiva is known as "Peruvudaiyar". The temple has got a very big Nandi or the bull which weighs 25 tons. This temple is a very important tourist place where we can see tourists from all over the world admiring the beauty of the sculpture in the Big temple.
Monuments at Mahabalipuram near Chennai
Mahabalipuram, also known as Mamallapuram is located about 60 km from Chennai city. It is one of the beautiful tourist places of South India. It acted as a port city of the Pallava dynasty in Tamil Nadu in the 7th century. Mahabalipuram's archaeological remains stands as a very good example of the Dravidian architecture. The Pallavas constructed seven granite temples called as The Seven Pagodas. Six temples were washed off by the sea and now only one temple remains. The place is amallapuram. The name Mamallapuram was derived from the Great Pallava King Narasimhavarman I, who was popularly called as Mamallan. Some of the important structures in Mahabalipuram are as follows:• Thirukadalmallai
• Descent of the Ganges
• Arjuna's Penance
• Varaha Cave Temple
• The Shore Temple
• Pancha Rathas
Visit all these four places and feel proud to have these UNESCO Heritage Sites in Tamilnadu
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