Tirtha Atlas

The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.

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Early medieval · Hindu · India

Tiruppaatrurai Adhimooleswarar Temple

Tiruppaatrurai, Tamil Nadu · 10.8458°, 78.7692°

Shiva as AdhimooleswararCholaDravidian
Sacred since
850 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Chola-period inscriptions
Chola

History & significance

A Shiva temple carrying several Chola-period inscriptions and counted a Paadal Petra Sthalam, praised by the 7th-century Nayanar saint Tirugnanasambandar in the Tevaram. It is run by the Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Board and keeps six daily rituals and three annual festivals.

Sthala katha — the legend

A Chola king hunting here loosed an arrow at a bird and struck an anthill that began to ooze milk; Shiva then appeared in his dream to reveal his presence, and the king built the temple on the spot.

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Related sites

Brihadisvara Temple
Thanjavur · India
1003–1010 CE
Brihadisvara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram
Gangaikonda Cholapuram · India
c. 1035 CE
Airavatesvara Temple
Darasuram, Kumbakonam · India
mid-12th c. CE
Ranganathaswamy Temple
Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli · India
built up 10th–17th c.; Rajagopuram 1987
Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Chidambaram · India
core 10th c.; expanded to 13th c.
Arunachaleswarar Temple
Tiruvannamalai · India
9th-c. Chola core; 16th-c. gopurams

Sources

coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-27 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Chola