Place Index

Major Śaiva temple in Kumbhakonam

The consort of the presiding deity (Śiva) is Ānandavallī.

Kumbhakonam branch maṭha of the head Ahobila mutt in Andhra Pradesh. Viśiṣṭādvaita pandits living in Alavandipuram and Gangadharapuram were affiliated with that mutt.

This famous Śaiva temple is in Darasuram.

Agrahāra located in Papanasam taluk; possibly founded, according to sources living there, in 1897. Has two temples: one Vaiṣṇava (Kalinga nartana [Laksmi-Narayana] temple) and one Śaiva (Candrasekhara Swami [Śivakamasundari] temple)

Agrahāra/brahmadeya donated to Bhāskararāya. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 37.

Agrahāra in decline, with two streets but only two original houses left. One Śaiva (Kandhasvami) temple and one Vaiṣṇava temple.

Birthplace of Kuppusvāmī Śāstrī (1880-1943)

This agrahāra has three temples: one Śaiva (Brahmanagareshwara Temple, located in the north-east of the agrahāra), one Vaiṣṇava (Varadarāja Temple, located in the south-west) and one dedicated to Ganapati, for which the settlement has become famous.

There is only one Vaiṣṇava temple in the brahmadeya as it stands today: the Gangadhareswarar Temple.

This agrahāra has links to pontiffs of the Ahobila mutt. Mādhvas, Śrīvaiṣṇavas and smārta lived there. It is also where Yajñāsvāmi Dīkṣita, the grandson of Tyāgarāja Dīkṣita, himself a direct descendant of Appayya Dīkṣita, attained samādhi.

Gaṇapati temple

An agrahāra in decline, with Śaiva and Vaiṣṇava (Gajendra Perumal temple).

Previously known as Vasisthewarar temple, the Karunaswami temple is located in Karunthittaikudi in Thanjavur.

Important Śaiva temple in Tiruviḍaimarudūr, otherwise known as Madhyārjuna. The temple is now under the control of the Tiruvavaduturai adheenam. The Maratha Bhonsle ruler Pratapasimha (r. 1739-1763) made donations of metal lamps to that temple. Several plays composed by playwrights commissioned by Maratha rulers were enacted in that temple..

Śaiva temple located in the north-east corner of Babhurajapuram. There used to be two agrahāras linked to it: the South agrahāra and the East one. There have been recent developments in the East agrahāra but the South has kept more of its traditional features.

During the Nāyaka dynasty, Acyutaparāya (1577-1614) gifted Mellatur village to 500+ brahmin actors families and scholars to preserve and continue the tradition of the Bhagavatamela - a regional form of theatre in Telugu blending classical dance and Carnatic music performed by male brahmin actors.

Every year, on Narasimha Jayanti, the Bhagavatamela festival takes place for ten days in the agrahāra street facing the Varadaraja temple. The actors face the temple while the audience sits in the street.

The village has three temples: Śaiva (Unnadharapurisvara), Vaiṣṇava (Varadaraja Perumal temple) and a temple to Ganapati.

Major Śaiva temple in Kumbhakonam

Important Śaiva temple located in Thiruvaiyaru dedicated to Śiva as Pancanadesvara and his consort Dharmasamvardhini.

Famous 16th-century Hindu shrine dedicated to Lord Rāma in Kumbhakonam

The heads of this mutt are coronated by Śaṅkarācāryas of the Kanchi mutt (a practice that began with the 68th pontiff of that mutt).

Major Vaiṣṇava temple in Kumbhakonam

A very well preserved agrahāra, with a Śaiva temple and a Varadarāja temple being built (as of August 2026). One of the eighteen Vathima villages inhabited mostly by smārta brahmins.

There we find Bodhendra Sarasvatī's adhiṣṭhānam (his place of samādhi).

In all probability, this is the temple where the Vidyāpariṇayanāṭaka (see entry) was enacted.

The temple has a Chola foundation with additions by Nāyakas and Marathas.

Used to be surrounded by agrahāras. Has a nartana mandapam built by Serfoji II.

A Śaiva temple at Thirukodikaval in the Thiruvidaimarudur taluk of Thanjavur district, with Śrīvidyā connexions (the goddess Tripurasundarī is also worshipped there).

The village of Thirukodikaval, where this temple is located, was renamed at some point as Deepambalpuram as it was donated by Deepambal, the queen consort of Veṅkoji a.k.a. Ekoji Bhonsle (r. 1675-1684). See Seetha, S. (2001), Tanjore as a Seat of Music. Madras: University of Madras.

Land donation to Gaṅgādharamakhin. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 36.

This Thiruvalangadu near the Delta was a colony of the other (older, northern) Thiruvalangadu near Madras, Chennai. See Raghavan, Venkataraman. Śāhendravilāsa of Śrīdhara Veṅkaṭeśa (A Poem on the Life of King Śāhaji of Tanjore, 1684-1710). Tiruchi: The Kalyan Press, 1952: p. 36.

An agrahāra is in decline, mostly occupied by non-brahmins as of 2026. It would have been donated by Serfoji II according to a local resident. One Śaiva temple (Neyadiappar temple).

Nicely preserved agrahāra with two temples: Vaiṣṇava (Varadarāja, with Venugopala during festivals) situated at the end of South street; and Śaiva (Viracolesvara).

One of the eighteen Vathima villages inhabited mostly by smārta brahmins. Structured as a square formed of North, South, East, and West streets; a short extension of South Street, Sannidhi street, leads to the Vaiṣṇava temple in the south-west corner. South street is more orthodox and used to be composed exclusively of brahmins; the North street, by contrast, includes non-brahmin households. This difference between the two main streets of the agrahāra is reflected in their different materials: sand for South street, and tar for North street. See: Fuller, C. J. and Narasimhan, Haripriya. ‘The agraharam: The Transformation of Social Space and Brahman Status in Tamilnadu during the Colonial and Postcolonial periods.’ In Ritual, Caste, and Religion in Colonial South India, edited by Michael Bergunder, Heiko Freise and Ulrike Schröder, pp. 219-37. Halle: Neue Hallesche Berichte, 2010, pp. 224ff.

Famous Śaiva temple in Thiruvarur

Agrahāra in decline, with one Śaiva and one Vaiṣṇava temple.

According to locals, it was established by Gaṅgādhara Vājapeyin. It is a small temple located on an agrahāra street in Thiruvalengadu. Until recently, it was looked after by descendants of Gaṅgādhara Vājapeyin. See: Krishnamurthy, R. The Saints of the Cauvery Delta. New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company, 1979, p. 30.

Located in Thiruvedhikudi, Thanjavur.

Has a nartana mandapam built by Serfoji II