The Kailaash Naath Temple is located in the temple town of Kaancheepuram in Tamilnaadu, India. It is called as Kailaashnath, Kovil. It was built by the Pallavas in the early 8th century AD. It is famous for its splendid Vimaan. It also contains numerous panels showing Lord Shiv as Nataraaj in various postures. This temple was built by Pallav King Narasinh Varmaa II (Raajaa Sinh). The Chola King Rajaraja Chol I visited this Temple and named this Temple as Kaachipettu Periya Thirukatrali (Stone Temple of Kaachipettu (ancient name of Kaancheepuram). It is believed by many archeologists that this Kailaash Naath Temple must be the inspiration for Raajaraajaa Chol I to build the Tanjore Brihadeshwar Temple. Currently the temple is well maintained by Archaeological Survey of India.

It has its main sanctum facing the east side. The rear wall of the Temple has a sculpture of Som Skand (Shiv and Umaa with their son Murugan in the centre), which was always seen in Shiv temples of the Pallav age. There is a large sixteen-sided Shiv Ling in the temple shrine here. It is learnt that the Shiv Ling has the flat stripes inside the Temple which is specialty of this Ling. It is 10 feet high and the Temple closes by 6 to 630 PM daily. There is a story behind this early closure. Temple priest narrates it to the visitors.

In the temple there is a small passage which begins from the entrance of the Garbh Griha and round the Shiv Ling. It starts from the right side and ends on the left side of the lingam. According to the priests of the Temple the narrow passage was built deliberately in which the devotees have to crawl and begin their rotation from the right and finish on the left side of the Ling. The process of crawling signifies that man crawls in his initial stage and learns to grow slowly and gradually while he again has to crawl in his later stage. In this way Lord Shiv ensures that there is no Punarjanm (re-birth) if one is successful in completing the rotation.

Kailaash Naath Temple, Elloraa
Danteedurgaa, the first of Raashtrakoot kings, seized power over Chaalukya kings at Badaamee (south of the Rivar Krishnaa) in 752. The Raashtrakoot capital was established at Elloraa near the modern city of Aurangaabaad, north of the River Godaavaree, where Danteedurgaa's successor Krishnaa I (reign, 756-775) subsidized the excavation of India's foremost rock temple, one of the architectural wonders of the world - the Kailaash Naath Temple of Lord Shiv. This was carved out of a mountain of solid rock. The genius of Indian stone carving has never been so brilliantly demonstrated. There are many Buddhist, Jain and other Hindu caves at Elloraa, some quite beautiful, but there is only one Kailaash Naath.

This is the No 16 cave among Elloraa caves. Founded in the last quarter of the 8th century by King Krishn I, it consists of a single enormous excavation almost 100 feet deep into the rock of the cliff.