Tirtha Atlas

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

1805 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Early medieval · Hindu · India

Kovur Sundareswarar Temple

Kovur, Chennai, Tamil Nadu · 13.0123°, 80.1213°

Shiva (as Sundareswarar), with SoundarambikaiCholaDravidian
Sacred since
960 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
c. 965 CE (Chola)
Chola

History & significance

A south-facing Shiva temple with a seven-tiered rajagopuram on the western edge of Chennai, counted among the city's Navagraha temples. The Carnatic composer Tyagaraja composed the five songs of the Kovur Pancharatnam here.

Sthala katha — the legend

The place is said to take its name from Mahalakshmi, who came to the spot in the form of a cow to worship Shiva.

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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