Rajagopala Perumal Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

located at

Manimangalam Manimangalam is a small town located in the Kanchipuram district of Tamil Nadu state in Southern India, famous for its ancient temples and inscriptions documenting the history of the ancient Tamil kings Demographics According to the 2011 C ...

, near

Tambaram Tambaram is a city located within the Chennai Metropolitan Area in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu. The city is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation. Etymology Tambaram is an ancient town referred to as Taamapuram in an inscrip ...

, a suburb of

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The temple is dedicated to

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

History

The earliest references to Manimangalam are in relation to a battle fought between the

Western Chalukya The Western Chalukya Empire ( ) ruled most of the western Deccan, South India, between the 10th and 12th centuries. This Kannada dynasty is sometimes called the ''Kalyani Chalukya'' after its regal capital at Kalyani, today's Basavakalyan i ...

ruler

Pulakesin II Pulakeshin II (IAST: Pulakeśin r. –642 CE) popularly known as Immaḍi Pulakeśi, was the greatest Chalukyan Emperor who reigned from Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya empire expanded to cover ...

and the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of South India, the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The Pallavas played a crucial role in shaping in particular southern Indian history and heritage. The ...

king

Narasimhavarman I Narasimhavarman I was a Pallava emperor who reigned from 630 CE to 668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the works started by Mahendravarman in Mamallapuram. During his reign, the famous Pancha Rathas ...

. The Rajagopala Perumal is one of three Vishnu temples in the town and was constructed by the

Medieval Cholas The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

. The earliest inscriptions mentioning the temple are by

Rajendra Chola I Rajendra I (26 July 971 – 1044), often referred to as Rajendra the Great, was a Chola Empire, Chola Emperor who reigned from 1014 to 1044. He was born in Thanjavur to Rajaraja I. His queen was Vanavan Mahadevi and he assumed royal power as ...

and have been dated to 1056 CE. Rajendra Chola I refers to the temple as ''Kamakoti-Vinnagar'' and ''Thiruvaykulam''.

References

* {{coord, 12.916, 80.037, display=title Hindu temples in Kanchipuram district Vishnu temples