Velankanni Beach

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 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.

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.

A Vishnu temple in Nagapattinam town, one of the local Divya Desam-adjacent shrines forming the town's temple cluster.

A Chola-era Shiva temple (also known as Nagai Karonam), the principal shrine of Nagapattinam town.

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

A quiet town beach on the Bay of Bengal in Nagapattinam, used by local fishing communities and known for calm sunrise views.

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.

A 16th-century Sufi shrine with five distinctive minarets, revered across religious communities as the resting place of Hazrat Syed Shahul Hameed.

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

An ancient Shiva temple in Thirukkuvalai village in the Kaveri delta, part of the region's cluster of Chola-era shrines.