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High medieval · Hindu · India
Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi
Mannargudi, Tiruvarur district, Tamil Nadu · 10.6669°, 79.4422°
Rajagopalaswamy (Krishna) with Sengamala ThayarChola; Thanjavur NayakDravidian
Sacred since
1000 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Chola foundation; greatly expanded 16th c. (Thanjavur Nayak)
Chola; Thanjavur Nayak
History & significance
A large Sri Vaishnava temple founded under Kulothunga Chola I and enlarged by later Cholas and above all by the Thanjavur Nayak ruler Vijayaraghava Nayak, who added the great gopuram, the thousand-pillared hall and the compound wall. Known as Dakshina Dwaraka and Champakaranya Kshetram, it counts sixteen gopurams, seven prakarams and twenty-four shrines and heads the list of 108 Abhimana Kshetras.