Thursday, November 16, 2017

Thirunanthikarai Cave Temple, Kanyakumari

Thirunanthikarai Cave Temple, Kanyakumari
Thirunanthikarai Cave Temple is a rock-cut cave temple located near Thiruvattar in Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu state of South India. It is part of Thirunanthikarai Nandeeswarar Temple. It is one of the most famous and ancient temples of Kanyakumari district in Tamilnadu, situated on the river banks of Nandiyaru. It is believed that it was established in the 9th Century AD and it remains one of the founding stones of Jain religion. Once upon a time, there existed a lot of sculptures inside the temple. Although the sculptures are not available at present, there are numerous stone carvings that narrate many interesting tales related to the Indian culture and religion.





One of the stone carvings state that King Raja Raja Chola captured Muttom and renamed it as Mummudi Chola Nallur. According to research, King Raja Raja Chola celebrated his birthday at this temple in AD 1003. This temple served as home to an ascetic named Veeranandi, who preached Jainism during the 8th century. Up to the recent past before 1956, the region around the temple was part of Kerala but is now under the jurisdiction of Tamil Nadu. It was originally established by Jains in 7th century CE and later turned into Hindu shrine. 





History
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The Temple
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Inscriptions
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Murals & Paintings
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Connectivity
The Temple is located on Marthandam to Pechiparai road at a walkable distance from Thirunanthikarai Bus Stop. Thirunanthikarai is located at about 4 Kms from Kulasekharam, 6 Kms from Pechiparai, 7 Kms from Thirparappu, 9 Kms from Thiruvattaru, 15 Kms from Marthandam, 20 Kms from Kuzhithurai, 20 Kms from Thuckalay, 23 Kms from Eraniel, 21 Kms from Padmanabhapuram, 30 Kms from Colachel, 32 Kms from Nagercoil, 57 Kms from Kanyakumari and 60 Kms from Thiruvananthapuram.
Thirunanthikarai and its nearest town Kulasekaram are well connected from Thiruvananthapuram or Kovalam Beach or Kanyakumari. You can get busses from Nagercoil, Thuckalay, Marthandam, Kulasekaram. Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) organizes local site seeing tours. Nearest Railway Station is located at Kuzhithurai and Eraniel. Nearest Airport is located at Thiruvananthapuram.