Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird Sanctuary

The cape at the southern tip of Nagapattinam district where an old Chola-era lighthouse tower marks the meeting of the Palk Strait and Bay of Bengal.

A Shiva temple near the southern tip of Point Calimere among the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams revered in the 7th-century Tevaram, where the deity is worshipped as Kodi Kuzhagar (Amirthakadeswarar) and the goddess as Anjanakshi. It is regarded as one of the southernmost of the Cauvery-delta Saiva shrines. Built in granite in the 10th century over an earlier structure, it has three prakarams and a five-tiered rajagopuram.

A Shiva temple about 3 km from Vedaranyam that is one of the Paadal Petra Sthalams revered in the 7th-century Tevaram, with the presiding deity Agastiswara and the goddess Pakampiriyal Nayagi. The site is linked to worship by the sage Agastya, from whom the village takes its name. It carries Chola-period inscriptions of Raja Raja Chola I, Rajendra Chola and Kulothunga Chola.

A coastal Shiva temple in the pilgrimage town of Vedaranyam, historically linked with the Kaveri-delta chain of Saivite shrines.

A working fishing beach beside the Velankanni Basilica, popular with pilgrims for a walk along the Bay of Bengal shoreline.

Known as the 'Lourdes of the East', this Marian basilica draws millions of pilgrims of all faiths, especially during the 11-day September feast.

A large modern Roman Catholic church at Velankanni and the newest of the cluster of shrines around the Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health. It is noted as an architectural landmark whose vast interior is built without a single internal pillar. It complements the main pilgrimage circuit that draws millions of devotees to Velankanni each year.

A well-known Murugan shrine in the Kaveri-delta temple belt, popular with regional pilgrims for its scenic rural setting.

A memorial commemorating the victims of the 26 December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, which struck Nagapattinam district harder than anywhere else in India and killed several thousand people along its coast. The pillar stands beside the Velankanni-Nagapattinam coastal road as a place of remembrance for the fishing and pilgrim communities that were devastated.

A Murugan temple famous for its annual Soorasamharam vel festival, set on the banks of the Kaveri delta near Nagapattinam.

A Vishnu temple among the 108 Divya Desams where the deity is worshipped as Loganatha Perumal with his consort Loganayagi. A Krishnaranya Kshetram and one of the Pancha Narayana and Pancha Krishna Kshetrams, it is glorified in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham. Built in Dravidian style, it is attributed to the medieval Cholas of the late 9th century, with later additions by Vijayanagara and Madurai Nayak rulers.

The site of an 11th-century Mahayana Buddhist monastery built in 1006 CE by the Srivijaya king Sri Vijaya Maravijayattungavarman with the patronage of Rajaraja Chola I, marking Nagapattinam as a major maritime Buddhist centre. Its tower survived as a landmark until Jesuit missionaries demolished it in 1867. Since 1856 around 350 Buddha bronzes dating from the 11th to 16th centuries have been excavated here, and the town is planned as the site of Tamil Nadu's first Buddhist museum.