The sacred geography of the Indic world — every site mapped, dated, storied, and cited.
Punnainallur, Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu · 10.7854°, 79.1895°
A Mariamman temple some 5 km east of Thanjavur whose small original shrine was raised in the reign of Tulaja and greatly enlarged by Serfoji II, who added the mahamandapa, narthana mandapa, gopura and second inner prakara; the Thanjavur court endowed it richly and connected it to the palace by an underground passage.
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.
Legend holds that the sage Sadashiva Brahmendra formed the goddess's image from an anthill, and that the king founded the shrine after Mariamman appeared to him in a dream among the punnai trees that name the village.
coordinates: wikipedia-2026-08-28 · sources retrieved 2026-08-26 · dynasty page: Thanjavur Maratha
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