Tirtha Atlas

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

1805 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
High medieval · Hindu · India

Thandayuthapani Temples, Chettikulam

Chettikulam, Perambalur district, Tamil Nadu · 11.1374°, 78.7893°

Dhandayuthapani (Murugan)Pandya
Sacred since
1000 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
Pandya period; year unrecorded
Pandya

History & significance

A hill temple complex to Murugan at Chettikulam in Perambalur district, ascribed to a Pandya king named Kulasekhara and reached by 240 steps. Its four-foot swayambhu image is unusual in showing the god with hair and holding a sugarcane marked with eleven divisions, and on the third to fifth days of the Tamil month of Masi the setting sun's rays climb the deity from foot to face.

Sthala katha — the legend

Murugan is said to have been given the sugarcane by his mother Parvati in congratulation for defeating the demons, and to have carried it to this hill.

Open in Google Maps ↗Wikipedia ↗View on the atlas map

Related sites

Ramanathaswamy Temple
Rameswaram · India
12th–18th c. (great corridor 18th c., Sethupathis)
Tiruchendur Murugan Temple
Tiruchendur · India
medieval; shore complex expanded over centuries
Kanyakumari Bhagavathy Amman Temple
Kanyakumari · India
ancient; structure renewed over centuries
Vijayaraghava Perumal Temple
Thiruputkuzhi · India
13th c. (Pandya)
Vanamamalai Perumal Temple
Nanguneri · India
by 1236 (Pandya)
Srivaikuntanathan Perumal Temple
Srivaikuntam · India
by 12th c. (Pandya grants)

Sources

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