Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

The Ardhanareeswarar temple is a notable Shiva temple in the town of Cumbum, in the fertile Cumbum valley. It is dedicated to the half-male, half-female form of Shiva and Parvati. It serves as one of the principal temples of the town.

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Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple
Place
Practical guide

Plan Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

Who's going?Tailor Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple to your trip
Typeheritage
Nearest baseGudalur
DistrictTheni
Best timeOctober to March is the cooler, drier…
Time neededAbout an hour
EntryFree
Places to visit2Listed businesses2

Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple is planned from Gudalur, one of the travel bases in Theni district. Use Gudalur for stays, food and local transport, then plan this place as a focused stop.

What to expect

Highlights

Getting there

How to visit

  • Base yourself in Gudalur or nearby in Theni, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel.
  • If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.
Timing

Best time

October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.

Weather in Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar TempleSeasonal guide

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Today at Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple
Sunrise6:09 am
Sunset6:04 pm
Golden hour best light5:04 pm–6:04 pm
Blue hour after sunset6:04 pm–6:29 pm
Sun sets toward compass bearingW · 261°
Moon tonight🌒 Waxing crescent · 25%

Sun and moon are calculated for this location and shown in IST. Photography windows are the hour around sunrise and sunset; the sunset bearing is degrees clockwise from true north. Moon phase is accurate to about half a day.

Stay · eat · do · rent · see · shop

Stays, food & things to do near Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

Verified hotels, homestays, restaurants, experiences, sights, shops and rentals around Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple — commission-free, with direct contact. Filter by what you need.

2 places to stay near Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

Top pick
Tea-estate guest cottage
Velu's Resort, Upper Gudalur

A four-bedroom cottage at Upper Gudalur that the owners let by the room or whole, in the foothills of the Kokkal range with its own tea and coffee gardens. Guests get the kitchen, and a cook comes in on request rather than there being a restaurant.

Commission-freeView details
Top pick
Whole-house tea estate retreat
Hushstay x PLENTI House, Gudalur

A four-bedroom house sleeping up to twelve, taken whole, standing on a sloping tea estate outside Gudalur with forest and flowering trees around it. Meals are home-cooked South Indian at fixed sittings rather than ordered from a menu.

Commission-freeView details

Book with the place itself. India’s cyber-crime coordination centre warned in April 2025 that convincing copies of hotel and pilgrimage booking sites are being pushed through sponsored search and social ads, taking payment for rooms the property never hears about. Every listing here links to the business’s own contact details and its own Google or Bing profile — we take no commission and sit in nobody’s payment path. If a booking page reached you through an ad, check the address bar against the property’s own site before you pay. Fraud can be reported on cybercrime.gov.in or on 1930.

Ranked guides

Top experiences around Gudalur

2 more places around Gudalur. Open a guide to plan the visit and onward journey.

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Colonel John Pennycuick Memorial
Place
heritageColonel John Pennycuick Memorial

15.9 km · ~26 min by cab

This memorial at Lower Camp, about 8 km from Gudalur, honours Colonel John Pennycuick, the British engineer who designed and built the Mullaperiyar Dam and diverted Periyar waters to the arid Cumbum and Vaigai basins. The project turned dry country into fertile farmland, and farmers of the region still revere him for the irrigation it brought.

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Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple
Place
heritageMangala Devi Kannagi Temple

This ancient temple stands on a forested ridge on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border, listed by Theni district as about 7 km from Pazhiyankudi. Dedicated to Kannagi, heroine of the Tamil epic Silappadikaram, it is built in an old stone style and opened to pilgrims only once a year around Chithra Pournami. It sits within reserve forest and offers panoramic views of the surrounding hills.

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Before you go

Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple — at a glance

TimingsRoughly 6:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 4:00 to 8:30 PM
Best timeOctober to February

Entry: Free

Getting here

How to reach Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

In Cumbum town, about 35 km from Theni; nearest railway Bodinayakkanur or Theni; nearest airport Madurai (IXM), about 90 km.

Getting around Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

If you need step-free access, contact the site before travelling. Ask about a level entrance, steps along the route, the nearest drop-off point, seating and accessible toilets.

If you need help at Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple
112All emergencies (police · fire · medical)The single number to call in any emergency (ERSS).

Emergency numbers are verified against official government and state tourism sources. 112 works anywhere in India.

Nearby

What’s near Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple

townCumbum

The main town of the Cumbum Valley and a commercial hub for the region's grape and vegetable trade. It is the gateway town for Suruli Falls and the Meghamalai foothills.

620 m · 8 min walk · straight line
activityCumbum Valley (Grapes City)

A fertile valley between the Western Ghats and the plains famed for large-scale grape cultivation, earning Cumbum the nickname Grapes City of South India. The Panneer Thratchai grape and vineyard visits draw agri-tourists.

710 m · 9 min walk · straight line
waterfallChinna Suruli Falls

A smaller waterfall near the main Suruli Falls set within forested hill terrain. It is a quieter bathing and trekking spot in the Cumbum region.

1.6 km · 20 min walk · straight line
townKamayagoundanpatti village arrival point

The exact visitor-planning anchor read from OSM place=village node 7400372072 at 9.7381164, 77.3202753. It identifies the village centre, not the temple gate or a public vineyard.

3.8 km · ~10 min by auto · straight line
templeKuchanur Saniswaran Temple

A well-known Shani (Saneeswaran) pilgrimage temple at Kuchanur where the deity is worshipped as a swayambhu, self-manifested form. Devotees visit to perform remedies against the malefic effects of the planet Saturn.

6.1 km · ~15 min by auto · straight line
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Suruli Kailasanathar Temple
Place
heritageSuruli Kailasanathar Temple

This Shiva temple sits on the hill above Suruli Falls near Cumbum, reached by a climb from the falls. It is an old rock-and-cave shrine linked to the Suruli hills and hosts festivals during Chithra Pournami and Thai Amavasai. Its forest-edge setting at the Western Ghats gate makes it both a pilgrimage and scenic spot.

9.3 km · ~16 min by cab · straight line
waterfallSuruli Falls

A seasonal cascade near Cumbum whose bathing and forest access depend on current conditions.

9.4 km · ~16 min by cab · straight line
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Kodi Lingam Temple
Place
templeKodi Lingam Temple

Kodi Lingam is a Shiva shrine near Suruli Falls in the Cumbum area, notable for housing a large number of Shiva lingams. It stands close to the Western Ghats forest gate and is visited by pilgrims who combine it with a trip to the falls.

9.5 km · ~16 min by cab · straight line
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Suruli Mastan Dargah
Place
heritageSuruli Mastan Dargah

This dargah near Suruli Falls, associated with a Muslim saint and traditionally dated to around the 16th century, is a pilgrimage site for the local Muslim community. Its location beside the popular Suruli Falls makes it part of the wider religious and scenic circuit in that part of the district.

9.8 km · ~16 min by cab · straight line
viewpointHighwavys / Meghamalai Tea Estates viewpoint

Panoramic lookouts among the tea and coffee estates of the High Wavy Mountains that overlook the Vaigai reservoir and the plains below. The winding ghat road and mist-covered ridges are a highlight for visitors.

12.6 km · ~21 min by cab · straight line
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Colonel John Pennycuick Memorial
Place
heritageColonel John Pennycuick Memorial

This memorial at Lower Camp, about 8 km from Gudalur, honours Colonel John Pennycuick, the British engineer who designed and built the Mullaperiyar Dam and diverted Periyar waters to the arid Cumbum and Vaigai basins. The project turned dry country into fertile farmland, and farmers of the region still revere him for the irrigation it brought.

15.9 km · ~26 min by cab · straight line
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Larger Sinnamanur Copper Plates (Chinnamanur inscriptions)
Place
heritageLarger Sinnamanur Copper Plates (Chinnamanur inscriptions)

The Larger and Smaller Sinnamanur copper-plate grants are important Pandya-era inscriptions unearthed at Chinnamanur in the early 20th century, written in Sanskrit and Tamil. They record royal genealogies, wars, alliances and land grants and are a key source for reconstructing early Pandya history. The original plates were removed to Britain during the colonial period.

17.0 km · ~28 min by cab · straight line

All 2 places to visit in Gudalur →

On the map

Where Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple is

Good to know

Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple — frequently asked

When is the best time to visit Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple?

October to March is the cooler, drier season in the Cauvery delta.

What are the entry fee and timings at Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple?

Entry: Free. Timings: Roughly 6:00 AM to 12:30 PM and 4:00 to 8:30 PM.

How do I reach Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple?

Base yourself in Gudalur or nearby in Theni, then confirm the last-mile route locally before travel. If access depends on temple, museum or seasonal rules, check on the day before you go.

How much time do I need for Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple?

About an hour.

What else is near Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple?

Nearby you can pair Cumbum (620 m), Cumbum Valley (Grapes City) (710 m), Chinna Suruli Falls (1.6 km), Kamayagoundanpatti village arrival point (3.8 km).

Read before you go

Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple guides, stories & itineraries

We have not published a story about Cumbum Ardhanareeswarar Temple itself yet. These cover Gudalur and the wider district, with separate journeys between stops.

Around Gudalur

These guides explore Gudalur and the surrounding area. Choose a visit that fits your interests, allowing separately for travel between stops.

Tamil Nadu-wide guides & itineraries

Route-level itineraries and practical guides for the rest of Tamil Nadu.

See all 17 Theni guides & stories →