, ▁and ▁rich ▁ins cri ptions , ▁the ▁tem ples ▁remain ▁the ▁very ▁ess ence ▁of ▁the ▁culture ▁and ▁her itage ▁of ▁T amil ▁land , ▁with ▁historical ▁records ▁d ating ▁back ▁to ▁at ▁least ▁ 3 , 0 0 0 ▁years . ▁ ▁The ▁state ▁also ▁ab ounds ▁with ▁a ▁large ▁number ▁of ▁temple ▁t anks . ▁The ▁state ▁has ▁ 2 , 3 5 9 ▁temple ▁t anks ▁located ▁in ▁ 1 , 5 8 6 ▁tem ples . ▁and ▁also ▁confl u ence ▁of ▁many ▁architect ural ▁styles . ▁From ▁ancient ▁tem ples ▁to ▁the ▁Ind o - S ar ac en ic ▁style ▁( p ione ered ▁in ▁Mad ras ) ▁of ▁the ▁colonial ▁era , ▁churches , ▁mos ques ▁to ▁ 2 0 th - century ▁steel ▁and ▁chrome ▁of ▁sk ys c rap ers . ▁ ▁History ▁ ▁Through out ▁T amil ak am , ▁a ▁king ▁was ▁considered ▁to ▁be ▁divine ▁by ▁nature ▁and ▁possessed ▁religious ▁significance . ▁The ▁king ▁was ▁' the ▁representative ▁of ▁God ▁on ▁earth ’ ▁and ▁lived ▁in ▁a ▁“ ko y il ”, ▁which ▁means ▁the ▁“ res idence ▁of ▁God ”. ▁The ▁Modern ▁T amil ▁word ▁for ▁temple ▁is ▁ko il . ▁Tit ular ▁worship ▁was ▁also ▁given ▁to ▁k ings . ▁Other ▁words ▁for ▁king ▁like ▁“ k ō ” ▁“ king ” ), ▁“ i <0xE1> <0xB9> <0x9F> ai ” ▁“ em peror ” ) ▁and ▁“ ā ṇ ḍ av ar ” ▁“ con quer or ”