In the Vishnu Kanchi quarter of Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu stands the great Varadaraja Perumal temple, one of the most sacred of the 108 Divya Desams sung by the Alvar saints, where Vishnu is worshipped as Varadaraja, the king who grants boons. Set upon the small Hastagiri, the elephant hill, the temple is revered as the place where the Lord appeared to complete a great yagna of Brahma, and where the teacher Ramanuja long resided; with Ekambareswarar and Kamakshi it forms the sacred trio (Mumurtivasam) of Kanchi.
The temple is famed for its vast 23-acre complex, its hundred-pillared hall, a marvel of a chain carved from a single stone, and above all for the Athi Varadar — a wooden image of the Lord kept immersed in the temple tank and brought out for worship only once every forty years, drawing millions. Varadaraja Perumal is among the supreme Vishnu shrines of the South.
