Saluvankuppam, also spelt as Salavankuppam or Saluvanakuppam, is a coastal hamlet in the Kanchipuram district

Kanchipuram district

Kanchipuram district is a district in the northeast of the state of Tamil Nadu in India. It is bounded in the west by Vellore and Thiruvannamalai districts, in the north by Thiruvallur District and Chennai District, in the south by Viluppuram District and in the east by the Bay of Bengal. It lies...

 of Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. It is situated on the East Coast Road

East Coast Road

East Coast Road is a two lane highway in Tamil Nadu, India, built along the coast of the Bay of Bengal connecting Chennai to Cuddalore via Pondicherry. Presently, the East Coast Road has been extended up to Thoothukudi via Chidambaram, Karaikal, Nagore, Nagapattinam, Thiruthuraipoondi, Muthupet,...

 at a distance of 7 kilometres from Mahabalipuram on the Chennai

Chennai

Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

-Mahabalipuram stretch. The Tiger Cave

Tiger Cave

The Tiger Cave is a rock-cut Hindu temple complex located in the hamlet of Saluvankuppam near Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu, India. It gets its name from the carvings of tiger heads on the mouth of a cave which forms a part of the complex. The Tiger Cave is considered to be one of the Mahabalipuram...

, which forms a part of the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Site

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...

 of Mahabalipuram is located here. The recently unearthed Subrahmanya Temple

Subrahmanya Temple, Saluvankuppam

The Subrahmanya Temple at Saluvankuppam is a shrine dedicated to the Hindu deity Murugan. Unearthed in 2005, archaeologists believe that the shrine consists of two layers: a brick temple constructed during the Sangam period and a granite Pallava temple from the 8th century AD constructed on top of...

 close to Tiger Cave is also located here. The hamlet along with its surroundings house a number of resorts and is a popular tourist destination.

History

The places in and around Saluvankuppam are known to have been inhabited since the early centuries of the Christian era. Earlier known as Thiruvizhchil, the town was renamed as "Saluvankuppam" during Vijayanagar period after the Saluva king Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya

Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya

Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya was an emperor of the Vijayanagara Empire from the Saluva Dynasty. A patron of the Madhwa saint Sripadaraya, he authored the Sanskrit work Ramabhyudayam. He also patronised Kannada poet Kavi Linga....

.