Tharamangalam Kailasanathar Temple - Shiva Temple

The Kailasanathar temple in Tharamangalam at the outskirts of Salem town is an architectural marvel with sculptures equivalent to Madurai Meenakshi temple, is dedicated to lord Shiva. Some parts of the temple go back to the 10th century period. The present structure is claimed to belong to the 17th century Gatti Mudali rule. An amazing fact about the construction of this temple is that the sculptures here were based on monolithic stones. It is advised to engage an official temple guide if you want to learn more about the architecture. Just in front of the entrance to the inner sanctum, we can visualize on the ceiling the inverted open lotus with pairs of elegant chains carved out of stone. That lotus can be rotated with a stick. The stone carving of the ‘Yali’ (a lion face with a stone ball in the mouth) is the most attractive sculpture in the temple.

The ambulatory is full of interesting sculptures depicting the Hindu myths. The main five storey 90 feet high entrance tower is designed as a chariot on wheels, drawn by elephants and horses. The huge entrance doors of this West facing temple are made of Vengai wood (Pterocarpus Marsupium). They are studded with non-rusting iron knobs in different patterns. It is designed in an idea that when the enemies’ elephants come for charge, they get struck by the iron knob and repel the attackers. The great hall here is a fine gallery of sculptures. Another interesting fact of the temple is that, every year for 3 days from February 21, the sun rays travel through the first pagoda (gopuram) of the temple. From the entrance gate, the rays pass through a small hole and fall on the statue of Lord Shiva, which draws locals to witness this.