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Early medieval · Hindu · India
Nageswaraswamy Temple (Kudanthai Keezhkottam)
Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu · 10.9587°, 79.3787°
Shiva (Nageswarar, lord of the serpent king), consort PeriyanayagiCholaEarly Chola with Pallava influencesPaadal Petra Sthalam
Sacred since
800 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
9th c. (Aditya Chola)
Chola
History & significance
Reckoned among the earliest of all Chola temples, raised in the 9th century under Aditya Chola in Kumbakonam. It is a Paadal Petra Sthalam revered by the Nayanars in the Tevaram.
Sthala katha — the traditional account
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.
During Rajendra Chola's Ganges expedition the army is said to have brought back a beautiful Vinayagar image, installed here as Gangai Vinayagar.