CHIDAMBARAM - KARAIKAL (FROM CHENNAI)

At a distance of 2 km from Chidambaram Bus Station, Nataraja Temple is an ancient Hindu temple located in Chidambaram town in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the ancient temples in South India, and among the must include places in Chidambaram tour packages.

Also referred to as the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple or Thillai Nataraja Temple, the Nataraja Temple is dedicated to Nataraja - Shiva as the lord of the dance. It is one of the five Panchbootha Sthalas of Lord Shiva, and it denotes the Skies. The temple has mythical roots and a Shiva shrine existed at the site when the town was known as Thillai. Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple literally means 'atmosphere of wisdom' or 'clothed in thought', the temple architecture symbolizes the connection between the arts and spirituality, creative activity, and the divine.

The temple was constructed during the 10th Century .....

At a distance of 17 km from Mayiladuthurai, 27 km from Chidambaram, 45 kms from Karaikal, 54 km from Kumbakonam and 94 km from Thanjavur, Vaitheeswaran Koil is town in Nagapattinam district which is famous for the Vaidyanatha Swamy Temple. The temple is also known as Pullirukkuvelur.

Vaidyanatha Swamy and Thaiyalnayaki are the presiding deities of this temple. The Selva Muthukumara Swamy shrine here is also considered to be of important. There are Shiva lingas said to have been worshipped by Rama, Jatayu, Skanda, Surya and Angaraka. It is believed that Rama and his brother Lakshmana cremated the vulture king Jatayu who was killed by Ravana when he tried to prevent the abduction of Sita at this place. There is a pond at this temple called Jatayu kundam.

It is one of the Navagraha temples associated with the planet Mars (Angaraka). According to legend, Planet Mars was once afflicted with leprosy and was cured by Vaidyanatha .....

At a distance of 1.5 km from Karaikal Railway Station, 23 km from Nagapattinam, 67 km from Chidambaram, 100 km from Thanjavur and 133 km from Pondicherry, Karaikal Beach is one of the best natural beaches in the South Tamil Nadu. It is one of the famous tourist attractions in Karikal located on the banks of Arasalar River. It is popular among the tourists as a place of entertainment and it is also the perfect place for those seeking leisure, tranquility, solitude and piousness.

The beach has been given easy accessibility by widening the 2 km road along the Arasalar River and by illumination of the road, now known as Beach Road. The Karaikal beach offers a lot to adventure lovers and family tourists with water sports like boating, canoeing, kayaking etc. and beach games like Volleyball. In addition to natural sandy beach, a boat jetty in the Arasalar, Children's Park, Restaurants, Tennis Court are also attracting large crowd of local people and tourists.

The boat club offers .....

At a distance of 1.5 km from Karaikal Railway Station, Karaikal Ammaiyar Temple is a Hindu temple situated in Barathiar Street in the center of Karaikal Town.

The temple was constructed by Malaiperumal Pillai in 1929. The main goddess is Punithavathi, also known as Karaikal Ammaiyar, the only woman out of the sixty three Nayanmars. This temple is known for the huge idol of the lady saint and there is also a sanctum for Vinayaka inside this temple.

According to history, a lady named Punithavathi lived in Karaikal in 5th century AD. She married a merchant named Paramadatta and performed spiritual Pujas to Lord Siva. One day Lord Shiva sent two mangoes to Paramadatta through a devotee and he sent it home. Lord Siva disguised himself as a Saint and appeared before her for taking food in the house of Punithavathi. She offered food along with mangoes kept for her husband to the Saint. When the food was supplied to her husband he demanded the mangoes that he had given to her. She .....

At a distance of 6 km from Karaikal Railway Station, 96 km from Thanjavur and 135 km Pondicherry, Sri Saneeswarar Temple, also known as Dharbaranyeswara Swamy Temple is one of the most popular Shani Temples in India and is located in Thirunallar near Karaikal. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, Dharbaranyeswara Temple houses a rare Marakata Linga.

According to history, the great King Nala was relieved from the trouble of Lord Saneeswaran after worshipping the Lord consecrated in this temple. It is believed that by bathing in Nala theertham here will wash off all kinds of misfortunes and miseries caused by one's past karmas. Whenever (planet) Saturn transits from one zodiac sign to another once in every 2.5 years, millions throng this shrine to offer prayers. Believed to have been built in the 7th century, the temple also has small shrines dedicated to other gods including Lord Ganesha.

Marakata Linga (Emerald Linga) is located inside .....

At a distance of 9.5 km from Karaikal, Sri Tantondreeswara Temple is an ancient shrine situated in Nedungadu and is believed to have been constructed during the Chola period. Dedicated to Lord Shiva, this temple is also known as Tantondrinathar Temple.

Sri Tantondreeswara Temple is named after the local deity Nedunthuyar Theertha Nayaki, meaning one who redressed the longstanding grievances of the people, the consort of Tantondrinathar or Swayambhu Eswara. The temple was declared as a protected monument in 1971. The temple features many inscriptions on the outer walls of the sanctum. It is also believed that the temple was renovated by the Nayak Rulers of Thanjavur. Tourists throng to the temple especially during the celebrations of Thiruvadhirai festival and the annual festival at Sri Mariamman Temple.

Several architectural excavations were conducted near the temple site in 1948, 14 Bronze idols belonging to the 14th century were unearthed in the vicinity of this temple. The .....