Tirtha Atlas

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

1126 sites15 countries4 traditions30 centuries
Early medieval · Hindu · India

Vedaranyeswarar Temple

வேதாரண்யம் திருமறைக்காடர் கோயில்

Vedaranyam (Tirumaraikkadu), Tamil Nadu · 10.3667°, 79.8500°

Shiva as VedaranyeswararChola—Paadal Petra Sthalam
Sacred since
600 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
by early 7th c.; structural temple credited to Aditya Chola (871-907)
Chola

History & significance

The great Shiva temple of Vedaranyam, the ancient Tirumaraikkadu ('forest of the Vedas'), and the only shrine mentioned in all seven Thirumurais of the Tamil Saiva canon. Chola kings from Rajaraja I onward endowed it richly.

Sthala katha — the legend

Its doors, sealed since the Vedas themselves worshipped here, are said to have been sung open by Appar and closed again by Sambandar's hymn.

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Related sites

Brihadisvara Temple
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1003–1010 CE
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Gangaikonda Cholapuram · India
c. 1035 CE
Airavatesvara Temple
Darasuram, Kumbakonam · India
mid-12th c. CE
Meenakshi Amman Temple
Madurai · India
current structure largely 16th–17th c.
Ranganathaswamy Temple
Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli · India
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