What to expect
Highlights
- Mahamaham Tank — A vast sacred temple tank of about 20 acres, ringed by 16 ornate mandapams and small shrines. Once every twelve years the Mahamaham festival draws millions of pilgrims who bathe here, believing the nine holy rivers of India converge in its waters. It is one of the most important mass-bathing pilgrimage sites in South India.
- Thiruppurambiyam Sakshinatheswarar Temple — The Shiva temple beside the battlefield of about 879 CE, where the Chola victory over the Pandyas began the dynasty's return. Aditya Chola I is said to have rebuilt the brick shrine standing here in granite in memory of that day. Shiva is worshipped as Sakshinathar, the witness, from the tradition that he appeared to give evidence for a Chettiar woman; the temple is the forty-sixth of the Tevaram-sung Shiva shrines on the north bank of the Kaveri, and is held by the Madurai Adheenam.
