Devikapuram
Another
important religious spot in the district is Devikapuram. It is
located at around 40 km from Arunachalam. Devi Periyanayaki Amman
temple is mainly focused in this area. It is located in the center
of the town, and Kannagagiri Eshwarar Temple is located in the top
of hill Ponnmalai.
The temples in Devikapuram was constructed by the Chola King
Thondaiman Chakravarthi. while the more ancient Kanakagireeswarar
Temple on the hill is said to date back to the Pallava period. The
current structure dates back to the Vijayanagar period as testified
by the inscriptions seen in the Periyanayaki Temple.
Devi Periyanayaki Amman temple has the long corridor. The
Rajagopuram stands tremendous with walls having excellent and highly
skilled sculptures around. The temple has 3 enclosures. In the first
enclosure, there is one big nandhi,36 pillared hall, idol of Lord
Vinayaga and Lord Muruga.
There is also one holy tank in the first enclosure. Opposite to the
spiritual tank there is a chariot fully
sculpted
in a single stone. The stone chariot is formed in such a way that it
drags the Mandapam with couples of horses. In the mid Gopuram there
are Pragaram of Nava Grahas, idol of Lord Nataraja, idols of first
four Nayanmars and Devi Periyanayaki Amman.