Kilaiyur Twin Temples (Avani Kandharpa Ishvaram)

An early-Chola stone Shiva temple at Melapaluvur (Melapazhuvur), historic seat of the Paluvettaraiyar chieftains who served Chola emperors from Aditya I to Rajendra I. The temple is rich in Chola, Pandya and Vijayanagar inscriptions.

A 453.71-hectare freshwater wetland at Vettakudi that draws large numbers of migratory and resident water birds, with over 188 species recorded including the bar-headed goose. Peak birdwatching runs September to March.

The Kallankurichi limestone belt is where a fossilised dinosaur egg was unearthed in 1992 in the cement-factory mines and later certified by experts, with further clusters of titanosaur eggs identified nearby. The site lends its name to the Kallakurichi Formation, a Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) marine unit of the Ariyalur Group rich in ammonites, corals and molluscs. It is one of the district's most significant palaeontology and geology sites for students and researchers.

A Shiva temple at Sripurandan dated by inscriptions to the period of Kulottunga III (1178-1218 CE). It drew international attention when its roughly 900-year-old bronze Nataraja idol, stolen and smuggled abroad, was purchased by the National Gallery of Australia before the theft was exposed, leading to the idol's repatriation to India in 2014. The recovered bronze is now held at the Government Museum in Kumbakonam rather than returned to the village shrine.

The district headquarters, formed when Ariyalur split from Perambalur in 2007. Known as the Land of Cements for its limestone quarries and cement industry, it is a convenient base for the region's Chola temples and fossil sites.

A Vishnu temple in Ariyalur town noted for pillars carved with the ten avatars of Vishnu (Dasavatharam) and a tall gopuram rising about 90 feet.

An ancient Shiva temple at Thirumanur near the Kollidam river, traditionally credited to Chembian Madevi, the grandmother of Rajaraja Chola I and a noted temple patron. The sanctum holds Kailasanathar as a lingam with a separate shrine for the goddess Kamakshi, alongside sub-shrines for Murugan with Valli and Deivayanai. Its walls carry Chola-period Tamil and Sanskrit inscriptions recording donations and temple practices.

An early Chola Shiva temple at Periyathirukkonam, listed among the district's historically important temples of the Chola period, with its deity worshipped as Adimadyarjunar (Adhimoolanathar). It is a modest but old heritage shrine reflecting the dense Chola temple-building activity across Ariyalur.

A Vishnu temple at Kallankurichi where the presiding deity Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal, popularly called Kaliyaperumal, is worshipped. Local tradition holds that the temple was built roughly five centuries ago by a cowherd at the spot of a post believed to hold miraculous powers, though the deity itself is considered far more ancient. It is one of the better-known Vaishnavite shrines of the district and lends its name to the limestone-rich locality around it.

An ancient Shiva temple on the banks of the Kollidam whose antiquity reaches back to the Sangam age. A Thevaram-sung shrine praised by the Nayanmars Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar, it is known for its Nandi Kalyanam festival.

A historic Catholic pilgrimage shrine linked to the Italian Jesuit missionary and Tamil scholar Constanzo Beschi (Veeramamunivar), who served here in the 18th century. Its annual feast draws pilgrims from across Tamil Nadu.

The Kallamedu Formation is a Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) rock unit of the Ariyalur Group, laid down in a river (fluvial) setting of siltstones, clays and sandstones. It has yielded dinosaur remains and petrified wood, and the area near Kallamedu village is the reported find-spot of Bruhathkayosaurus, a titanosaur that may have been among the largest land animals ever. The formation is a key terrestrial-dinosaur locality that complements the district's better-known marine fossil beds.