Mangalapureeswarar Temple, Thiruchopuram

Quiet golden-sand Bay of Bengal beach midway between Cuddalore and Chidambaram, home to the coastal Pinnai Vazhi Amman shrine.

A Shiva temple at Thiruthinainagar (Theerthanagari) near Cuddalore, where the deity is worshipped as Shivakozhundeeswarar. It is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams revered in the Tevaram hymns of the Nayanmars.

A Shiva temple at Thirukanattumullur (Kanattumullur) in Cuddalore district, where the deity is worshipped as Patanjalinathar. It is counted among the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams glorified in the Tevaram hymns of the Saiva Nayanmars.

Historic Coromandel port settled by the Portuguese in the 1590s as "Porto Novo", later Dutch and British, site of India's first iron-and-steel works (1830).

Former British coastal fort at Devanampattinam near the Gadilam river mouth, associated with Robert Clive, who served as its governor; little of the original structure survives.

One of the longest beaches on the Coromandel Coast, running along the Bay of Bengal just east of Cuddalore town.

One of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams dedicated to Shiva, in central Cuddalore, traditionally the temple where the Saiva saint Appar returned to Saivism.

One of the 108 Divya Desams, dedicated to Vishnu as Devanatha, on the outskirts of Cuddalore, notable for its hilltop Hayagriva shrine atop the Oushadagiri hillock.

A Shiva temple at Thirumanikuzhi near Cuddalore, where the deity is worshipped as Vamanapureeswarar. It is one of the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams praised in the Tevaram hymns of the Saiva saints. It is among the Shiva shrines clustered around Cuddalore town.

The birthplace shrine of Sri Raghavendra Swami, born Venkatanatha in 1595 CE, the revered 17th-century Madhva Dvaita Vedanta saint and scholar. His ancestral home in Bhuvanagiri has been converted into a Raghavendra Swamy Matha with a mrithika Brindavan. It draws Madhva pilgrims for rituals and festivals through the year.

The octagonal "Hall of True Knowledge" built in 1872 by the saint Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar), centre of the Suddha Sanmarga movement, alongside a perpetual free-food house.

One of the world's largest mangrove forests, explored by rowboat through backwater channels between Chidambaram and the sea, with rich birdlife along the Vellar-Coleroon estuary.