The five main Kanchipuram temples
Kanchipuram is called the City of a Thousand Temples, a nickname and not a current count. Visitors usually concentrate on five shrines: the Kamakshi Amman Temple, the Ekambareswarar Temple, the Kailasanathar Temple, the Varadharaja Perumal Temple and the Vaikunta Perumal Temple. They belong to different traditions. Kamakshi is dedicated to the goddess, Ekambareswarar and Kailasanathar to Shiva, and Varadharaja and Vaikunta Perumal to Vishnu.
Three of them have their own pages: the Kamakshi Amman Temple, the Kailasanathar Temple, which also covers the Vaikunta Perumal Temple, and the Varadharaja Perumal Temple. The Ekambareswarar Temple is described below. The town lies about 75 km from Chennai, which the district administration gives as roughly 2 hours by car, and the getting there page explains the routes.
Our picks: temple visits
The tour from Mahabalipuram includes all temple entry fees and a vegetarian lunch. The private Chennai day covers four Kanchipuram temples plus a silk weaving centre, and the nine-day route treats Kanchipuram as one stop among many.
Hand-picked tours, booked through GetYourGuide. Prices are indicative starting prices in US dollars (as of October 2026). Tap a tour for live availability and the current price in your currency.
Nine-day Tamil Nadu temples and culture tour
- Hotel transfers
- Live tour guide
- Entrance fees to temples and attractions
Kanchipuram is one stop on day seven of a longer route that also includes a Tanjore painting workshop and a walking tour in Madurai.
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Private temple day trip with a silk weaving centre
- Private English-speaking guide
- Entrance fees as per itinerary
- Silk weaving centre visit
The route covers the Kamakshi, Ekambareswarar, Kailasanathar and Varadaraja temples. Parking, tolls, fuel and taxes are part of the price; camera and video fees are not.
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Private temple tour to Kanchipuram with lunch
- All temple entry fees
- South Indian vegetarian lunch
- English-speaking driver and guide
This is the option for travellers already staying in Mahabalipuram who want to see Kanchipuram without going via Chennai. It has one rating so far.
Check availability →Kanchipuram temple tours
Guided temple days from Chennai or Mahabalipuram and a longer route through Tamil Nadu. Check what each offer includes, as entrance fees and meals are not handled the same way.
Ekambareswarar Temple
The Ekambareswarar Temple, also called Ekambaranathar, is a Shiva temple of the Pancha Bhoota tradition, in which it stands for the element earth. Its sacred mango tree is venerated, and a religious guide gives the tree an age of 3,500 years as a tradition, not as a botanical finding. The district administration describes the tall entrance gateway, built under Krishnadevaraya of the Vijayanagara period. Heights quoted for the gateway vary between sources, so this guide gives none.
The published hours for this temple come from an official index entry that lists 06:00 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 20:30, while a Tamil text on the same page gives an evening closing of 20:00. Take this as a rough guide, aim to arrive by late afternoon and ask on site about the closing time.
Published timings and the midday break
Temple hours are the most common planning mistake. Each of the five shrines closes in the middle of the day, so a loose morning plan can leave you at a closed gate at one o'clock. The list below gives the published hours, and each entry has its limits.
- Kamakshi Amman: the temple operator names an opening at 05:30. A guide of the Kamakoti Peetham gives 05:30 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, while the operator's puja page lists the night puja until 20:15. Plan evening visits earlier and ask on site.
- Ekambareswarar: see above, a rough guide only.
- Kailasanathar: the district tourism page gives 06:30 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 19:30, undated, including the midday break.
- Varadharaja Perumal: darshan from 07:30 to 12:30 and from 15:30 to 20:00 according to the temple administration (HR&CE, noted 20 October 2026), with festival days possibly different.
- Vaikunta Perumal: a state tourism index lists 06:00 to 12:00 and 16:00 to 18:00. Treat it as a rough guide and ask on site.
Opening is not the same as access to every shrine room, and a puja time is not a visiting time. Do not plan around a temple being open all day, and confirm the hours on the day. One sensible pattern is to start early with the temples that open at 06:00 or 06:30, take lunch and a rest while the gates are shut and finish with a late afternoon temple. Entry arrangements differ per temple, so clarify them on site.
Etiquette: shoes, clothes and photos
An independent guide to Tamil Nadu temples gives general advice that is also useful here. Take your shoes off before the entrance, wear clothes that cover shoulders and knees, speak quietly and be considerate of services in progress. A shoe counter does not exist everywhere, so a small bag for your shoes can help. The advice is a general orientation, not a rule list for each of the five temples, and you should follow the instructions of the staff.
Do not photograph the deities unless you have been told that you may, and follow the signs for cameras and phones. Barrier-free access is not guaranteed anywhere, because steps, thresholds and narrow passages are part of old temples.
A day plan that respects the breaks
Many visitors spend a morning on two or three temples, eat in town and return for one more in the late afternoon. Tours reorder this to suit their route. A guided day covers the most ground because the driver waits while you walk. Compare the options on the day trip page, and if silk weaving is on your list, read the silk saree page to see where it fits between temple hours.
Frequently asked questions
Which Kanchipuram temples should I see first?
The Kamakshi Amman, Ekambareswarar, Kailasanathar and Varadharaja Perumal temples are the usual core, with the Vaikunta Perumal Temple as a fifth. With one day, choose two or three and leave time for the midday break.
Are the Kanchipuram temples a World Heritage site?
No. The Temples of Kanchipuram are on UNESCO's Tentative List, submitted on 13 April 2021. That is a preliminary list and not an inscription. The Kamakshi Amman Temple is not among the 11 components of that proposal.
Is the Vaikunta Perumal Temple the one in Uthiramerur?
No. The Vaikunta Perumal Temple in Kanchipuram town is a different temple from the one with the same name in Uthiramerur, which lies elsewhere in the district.
Can I see all five temples in one day?
It is possible on a very early start, but the midday break and the distances between them make it tight. Several tours cover the main temples in one day, and a slower plan with fewer temples is easier on the legs.