Sarangapani Temple, Kumbakonam

Sarangapani Temple, also called Thirukudanthai, is a Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam along the Kaveri. It is one of the 108 Divya Desams praised by the Alvars and is counted among the Pancharanga Kshetrams. Legend says Lakshmi rose from the Potramarai tank among a thousand lotuses as the daughter of the sage Hemarishi, and Vishnu came down in a chariot to marry her.

The site may have been a Vaishnava settlement by the 7th or 8th century, but the earliest inscriptions are from the late Chola period, and Vijayanagara and Nayaka rulers enlarged it between the 15th and 17th centuries. It is the largest Vishnu temple in the town. Its eleven-tiered rajagopuram, 173 ft high, is one of six gopurams. The central shrine is built as a chariot drawn by horses and elephants, reached through a 100-pillared hall, and the Potramarai tank lies outside the western entrance. The chariot festival in Chittirai is the main event, with twin chariots said to be the tallest in Tamil Nadu.