The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
Kumbakonam, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu · 10.9551°, 79.3828°
A Shiva temple on the eastern bank of the Mahamaham tank at Kumbakonam, one of the twelve Shiva temples linked to the Mahamaham festival held every twelve years. Its most recent consecration was on 26 October 2015.
What follows is the temple’s own traditional account, transmitted through liturgy and local memory. It is recorded here as tradition, not as attested history.
The name is explained by a legend in which Shiva turned to face the nine river goddesses when they arrived, so granting them his darshan.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Undetermined
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