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The Kamakshi Amman temple in Kanchipuram is the seat of Goddess Kamakshi. It is one of the seven Mokshapuris (along with Ayodhya, Mathura, Gaya, Kashi, Avantika, Puri, and Dwarakavati), and one of the fifty one Shakti Peethas.
The principal idol of the presiding deity, Goddess Kamakshi, is in a sitting Padmasana posture. The four-armed Goddess holds a Sugarcane bow, a Lotus, a Parrot, and the Pasha-Ankusha. A Chandra Prabhai (Crescent shape of the moon) is also present on her forehead. The sanctum is situated in the Gayatri Mandapam. A Sri Chakra is installed in the primary shrine, said to have been consecrated by Adi Shankaracharya sometime in the 8th century CE.
A Vishnu shrine is located in the temple in the name of Kalva Perumal. It is revered as one of the 108 Divya Desams. This shrine is on the wall to the right of the Gayathri Mantapam, facing southwest.
The temple itself is dated back to the 6th or 7th century, with King Thondaiman Ilandiraiyan having made a significant founding contribution. Several later day additions and enhancements were done by Pallava, Chola, and Vijayanagara rulers.
The temple complex is dotted with Sannadhis (shrines), Mandapas (halls), and the pushkarini (temple tank). In addition to the main Kamakshi shrine, the complex also houses shrines of Varahi, Arupa lakshmi, Ganapati, Kalvar Perumal inside the Gayatri Mandapam. Shrines of Ayyappan (Sasta), Saraswathi, Annapoorani and Adi Shankaracharya are located inside the prakaram, and Kala Bhairavar, and Mahishasura Mardhini, Kashi Viswanathar shrines are situated in the outer prakaram.
Unusually, the primary axis of the temple is not east-west, but northeast-southwest. The temple complex is an irregular quadrilateral with a perimeter of about 516m. The four gopurams in the outer wall are not situated at the center of the respective sides. The inner complex is rectangular, with a total perimeter of 145m and occupies the south-eastern quarter, The large temple tank occupies a prominent space in the north-western quarter. A brass deepastambham (lamp tower) stands on the south-eastern side.
There are five spires in the inner prakaram (compound), with four of them having a wagon-vaulted roof, and the fifth being a gilded spire capped by a cupola in the typical Dravidian style. These spires are not axially aligned, nor are they centered within each side of the inner complex.
A large hallway on the north-east features a number of exquisitely carved columns which depict religious, historical, and secular themes and motifs, in addition to floral and faunal patterns.
The Varadaraja Perumal Temple is located in a suburb of Kanchi known as Vishnu Kanchi, about five kilometers to the south of the Kamakshi Amman temple. The presiding deity here is Vishnu. The temple has around 350 inscriptions from various dynasties like Chola, Pandya, Kandavarayas, Cheras, Kakatiya, Sambuvaraya, Hoysala and Vijayanagara indicating various donations to the temple and also the political situation of Kanchipuram. While the primary shrine, the spires, and gopuram of the temple are significant parts of the temple complex, the large temple tank and the 100-pillar hall (mandapam) in the north-west quarter are of significant interest.
The 100-pillared hall features richly carved pillars, the outer columns of which feature a rampaging horseman above a vanquished foe. The depictions of the horses are notable for the extremely finely carved details of the livery. The hall also has pllars with carvings depicting scenes drawn from Vishnu purana (including the dashavatara), traditional yalis, and floral patterns. A large platform installed in the middle of the hall was probably used to seat the monarch on ceremonial occasions.
Two gazebos stand in the waters of the temple tank. There is a replica of the primary idol of the temple, made of wood from a fig tree which is submerged below the waters of the tank and brought out only once in forty years,
The Sundaravarada Perumal temple, about 30 km south of Vishnu Kanchi, is a smaller temple complex than the other two. It is significant for its three-storeyed sanctum sanctorum, each level of which has idols of Vishnu, one on the ground floor, four on the first floor, one in each cardinal direction, and one on the top-most floor.
The temple walls also feature Chola-era inscriptions which describe the process of democratically electing the representatives through a system called Kudavolai.