Chandramouleeswarar Temple, Thiruvakkarai

A national geo-heritage site preserving 20-million-year-old petrified and fossilised tree trunks scattered across a protected scrubland area.

A Buddhist vihara in the Vanur area of the district near Auroville, listed among the district's tourist places by the district administration. It serves as a modern Buddhist worship and meditation centre in the region.

An early Pallava-period structural Shiva temple, among the earliest stone temples of the dynasty, notable for its sculptural work predating the more famous Kanchipuram temples.

An irrigation dam and reservoir on the Malattar river feeding farmland across the district. The reservoir and its surroundings are a local picnic and scenic spot, especially when water is released during the monsoon.

A hilltop Murugan shrine near Tindivanam reached by a flight of steps, popular with pilgrims for its monumental gopuram tower.

An ancient Shiva temple counted among the 276 Paadal Petra Sthalams sung in the Tevaram hymns, with the deity worshipped as a Swayambhu (self-manifested) lingam. It is traditionally associated with construction under the Chola king Kulothunga I. The temple lies about a kilometre from the Vikravandi junction on the Panruti route.

An ancient Shiva temple near Auroville, revered in Tamil Saiva tradition and connected to legends of the sage Sadasiva Brahmendra. It is one of the historic temples of the Vanur-Marakkanam belt of the district, drawing pilgrims for its Mahakaleeswarar shrine.

An experimental international township founded in 1968 by the Mother, centred on the golden Matrimandir, and home to a community from many nations pursuing collective living and sustainability projects.

The golden spherical meditation hall at the centre of Auroville, designed as a place of silent individual concentration; entry to the inner chamber requires advance booking.

A Vishnu temple famous for detailed Tamil inscriptions from the reign of Rajendra Chola I documenting a large residential Vedic college and hostel run in its precincts. The inscriptions record instruction in the Vedas, grammar, logic and Vedanta and provision to feed hundreds of scholars. It is a key record of Chola-era higher education.

A ruined hill fort on an isolated granite hill rising about 437 feet, roughly 12 km east of Tindivanam. It was fortified during the Vijayanagara period in the 14th century and contended over in later regional conflicts. The same hill carries the old Mukyachaleeswarar Shiva temple, said to be around 900 years old.

A quiet fishing-village beach on the East Coast Road just north of Puducherry, within Viluppuram district. It has a fishing harbour and is a low-key coastal stop near the Auroville belt on the Bay of Bengal.