Tirtha Atlas

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

1126 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Late medieval · Hindu · India

Oondreswarar Temple

திருவெண்பாக்கம்

Poondi (Tiruvenpakkam), Tamil Nadu · 13.2081°, 79.8786°

Shiva (Oondreswarar), with Parvati as Minnoli AmmanCholaPaadal Petra Sthalam
Sacred since
1500 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
16th c. masonry; moved to its present site in 1942
Chola

History & significance

A Shiva temple on the northern bank of the Poondi reservoir in Tiruvallur district, one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams of the 7th-century Tevaram and sung by the 8th-century saint Sundarar. The original Chola complex was rebuilt in the 16th century and relocated in 1942 when the reservoir was formed.

Sthala katha — the legend

Sundarar is said to have lost his sight on arriving here; Shiva gave him a walking club, an oondru, which the saint threw away in disgust, breaking the horn of the temple's Nandi.

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Ranganathaswamy Temple
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built up 10th–17th c.; Rajagopuram 1987
Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Chidambaram · India
core 10th c.; expanded to 13th c.

Sources

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