Sarangapani Temple, Hindu temple in Kumbakonam, India

Sarangapani Temple is the largest Vishnu temple in Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, enclosed by a granite wall. Its eleven-tier rajagopuram rises 173 ft (53 m), with five smaller gopurams inside. The central shrine is built as a stone chariot with horses, elephants and wheels, reached through a 100-pillared hall; the Potramarai tank lies outside the western entrance.

The site may have held a Vaishnava settlement by the 7th or 8th century, and the earliest inscriptions date to the late Chola period, 10th to 12th centuries. Vijayanagara and Nayaka rulers expanded the temple between the 15th and 17th centuries, and under the Nayaks in the 17th century a Vaishnava matha became attached to it. Chola and Vijayanagara rebuilding left no trace of the original shrine. A kumbhabhishekam was held on 13 July 2015.

The name Sharngapani comes from the Sanskrit sharanga, Vishnu's bow, and pani, hand. The temple is one of the 108 Divya Desams praised by the Alvar saints, who call the deity Kudanthai Kidanthan. Twelve yearly festivals are held, the chariot festival in the Tamil month of Chittirai being the most prominent.

The temple faces east, and the Potramarai tank lies outside the western entrance, so plan your approach from the side you want to see first. Six daily rituals run from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. The sanctum is reached through a 100-pillared hall, and the two entrances, Uttarayana and Dakshinayana, open for six months each, the first from mid-January to mid-July.

The temple's two processional chariots are the tallest in Tamil Nadu: each base weighs 300 tonnes and the complete structure with wheels about 500 tonnes. They are kept outside the rajagopuram and pulled around the temple during the Chittirai festival. The central shrine itself is built as a chariot with stone horses, elephants and wheels.