Tamil Nadu is known for its ancient temple architecture. Nearly 33, ancient temples, many at least to years old, are found scattered all over Tamil Nadu. Most of the largest Hindu Temples are located in Tamil Nadu. The state also abounds with a large number of temple tanks.
The state has 2, temple tanks located in 1, temples and also confluence of many architectural styles, from ancient temples to the Indo-Saracenic style pioneered in Madras of the colonial era , to churches and mosques , to the 20th-century steel and chrome of skyscrapers. Throughout the history of Tamil Nadu, a king was considered to be divine by nature and possessed religious significance. The Modern Tamil word for temple is kovil. Titular worship was also given to kings.
Several of these have been unearthed near Adichanallur , Kaveripoompuharpattinam and Mahabalipuram , and the construction plans of these sites of worship were shared to some detail in various poems of Sangam literature.
One such temple, the Saluvannkuppan Murugan temple , [ 10 ] unearthed in , consists of three layers. The lowest layer, consisting of a brick shrine, is one of the oldest of its kind in South India, and is the oldest shrine found dedicated to Murugan.
It is one of only two brick shrine pre Pallava Hindu temples to be found in the state, the other being the Veetrirundha Perumal Temple at Veppathur dedicated to Vishnu. The dynasties of early medieval Tamilakkam expanded and erected structural additions to many of these brick shrines. Sculptures of erotic art, nature and deities from the Ranganathaswamy Temple and Kallazhagar temple date from the Sangam period. Many of the temples of this time have been built on either bricks or granite stones, but they did not survive until modern times due to the destruction caused by the invasion of the Delhi Sultanate Empire under the leadership of Malik Kafur.
