Kanchipuram is a holy city for the Hindus. But, it was perhaps one of the holy cities for the Jains as well as the Buddhists too. It is said that the city once had four divisions namely Shaiva Kanchi, Vishnu Kanchi, Jina Kanchi and Buddha Kanchi. There are hundreds of Shiva and Vishnu temples in the city. Even there are few Jain temples. But, there is not even a single Buddhist temple in the city which reportedly had a separate Buddhist region once. However, there are many symbols and icons of Buddhism are found across the city. This article explores one such Buddhist icon.

The five and half feet high stone idol of Buddha in his typical seated posture was discovered in the 1970s. It is currently installed in a shed in the playground of Subbaraya Mudaliar School in Kanchipuram. As per the scholars, this attractive icon of Buddha belongs to the 9th century CE.

Happy travelling.