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

Veemeeswarar Temple, Serapanancheri

Serapanancheri, Kanchipuram district, Tamil Nadu · 12.8766°, 79.9838°

Shiva as Veemeeswarar, with SwarnaambigaiChola
Sacred since
1178 CE
first attestation / structure
Standing structure
c. 1180 (Kulothunga Chola III)
Chola

History & significance

A Chola temple near Padappai on the Tambaram–Walajabad road whose earliest inscription belongs to Kulothunga Chola III, placing it around 1180. It is unusual for its very large lingam and for having two Nandis, and was once ringed by the Agni, Brahma and Vishnu theerthams, now dry.

Sthala katha — the legend

Surya is said to come here regularly to worship Shiva, and the deity is held to govern all twenty-seven nakshatras.

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Related sites

Brihadisvara Temple
Thanjavur · India
1003–1010 CE
Brihadisvara Temple, Gangaikonda Cholapuram
Gangaikonda Cholapuram · India
c. 1035 CE
Airavatesvara Temple
Darasuram, Kumbakonam · India
mid-12th c. CE
Ranganathaswamy Temple
Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli · India
built up 10th–17th c.; Rajagopuram 1987
Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Chidambaram · India
core 10th c.; expanded to 13th c.
Arunachaleswarar Temple
Tiruvannamalai · India
9th-c. Chola core; 16th-c. gopurams

Sources

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