Ashtabhujakaram Temple

The Ashtabhujakaram, or Ashtabhuja Perumal Temple, stands in Vishnu Kanchi in Kanchipuram, about 2 km from the Varadaraja Perumal Temple. The Alvars praised it, and it counts among the 108 Divya Desams. Legend says that when Saraswati, angry with Brahma, sent a fierce serpent to destroy his sacrifice, Vishnu took an eight-armed form to kill it; another story links the temple to Vishnu's rescue of the elephant Gajendra from a crocodile. Pallava rulers are thought to have renovated it in the late 8th century; inscriptions of Rajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola I survive.

It is a small temple with a tank in front and a gateway tower piercing its walls. The west-facing image of Ashtabhuja Perumal carries eight objects, among them sword, bow, lotus, conch and discus, with Lakshmi on his chest and a garland of shaligrama stones. By custom the goddess Pushpakavalli Thayar, in her own shrine, is worshipped first. Varaha, Hanuman and Andal have shrines too.