Viralimalai Murugan Temple

A protected peafowl habitat around Viralimalai hill where several hundred wild peacocks roam the temple hill and surrounding scrub. The birds are associated with the hilltop Murugan temple, whose vehicle is the peacock, and are locally protected. October to April is the best season to see them displaying.

The ruined 'three-shrine' Chola-era temple built by the Irukkuvel chiefs, originally three vimanas of which two survive, prized for its refined early Chola sculpture.

An Early Chola Shiva temple built around 920 CE during the reign of Parantaka I by the local Irukkuvel chief. Its two-tier Nagara-style vimana over the sanctum is a fine example of early Chola architecture, and the shrine is counted among the Vaippu Sthalams of the Tevaram. Eleven inscriptions spanning the 10th to 16th centuries survive here, and the monument is protected by the Archaeological Survey of India.

A Roman Catholic shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Good Health, first built in 1547 and rebuilt in 1747. It is associated with the Italian Jesuit missionary and Tamil scholar Constanzo Beschi (Veeramamunivar), who served here. The church is a well-known Christian pilgrimage centre with an annual September feast.

A 2nd-century Jain rock-cut cave temple famed for its Pandya-era fresco murals of a lotus pond, dancers and animals, regarded as second only to Ajanta among Indian cave paintings.

A natural cavern on the Sittanavasal hill with polished rock beds and Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions used by Jain ascetics, part of a Sramana pilgrimage centre active from the 1st century BCE to the 9th century CE.

An early-medieval structural Shiva temple in the Narthamalai monument landscape, set on an exposed rock slope.

A natural cavern in the Narthamalai hill group containing polished rock-cut stone beds where Jain ascetics practised austerities, similar to those at Sittanavasal's Ezhadippattam. The facade bears Tirthankara relief sculptures and early inscriptions, marking Narthamalai as a significant ancient Jain centre. Broken Jaina idols and further reliefs are found near the nearby Palli-k-kulam tank.

A cluster of temples at the foot of Kadambarmalai hill in the Narthamalai group, distinct from the better-known Vijayalaya Choleeswaram. It includes the Kadamba Nayanar (Shiva) shrine, a shrine to the goddess Mangalambikai and another called Nagarisvaram. The complex reflects the layered Chola and Pandya religious activity across the Narthamalai hills.

A natural cavern known as Andar-madam on Tenimalai hill, used by Jain ascetics, bearing a Tirthankara relief figure carved on a large boulder. Two early inscriptions survive, one below the image and another on a nearby boulder. It is part of the dense scatter of Jain vestiges that made Pudukkottai a major Jain centre for over a millennium.

A Pallava rock-cut Shiva temple carved around the mid-7th century by Mahendravarman I, with goddess Brihadambal as the tutelary deity of the Tondaiman kings of Pudukkottai.

A major museum founded in 1910 with 18 galleries spanning archaeology, bronzes, sculpture, geology and anthropology, housing the former princely state's art collection.