Abathsahayeswarar Temple, Aduthurai

Abathsahayeswarar Temple at Aduthurai, also called Then Kurangaduthurai, lies 14 kilometres from Kumbakonam on the road to Mayiladuthurai, close to Aduthurai railway station. Shiva is worshipped as Apathsahayeswarar, 'rescuer in danger', with Parvati as Prabhavalli, and the temple is praised in the 7th-century Tevaram. Legend says the monkey king Sugriva, fleeing his brother Vaali, prayed here, and Shiva turned him into a swan and hid him in a vilva tree. The name, the southern riverbank where a monkey worshipped, comes from this tale, and a plaque of Sugriva worshipping Shiva is set on the walls around the sanctum.

The Cholas first built the temple, possibly through Queen Sembiyan Mahadevi, and it has about fifteen Chola inscriptions; the present masonry is from the Nayak period of the 16th century. The taller of its two gopurams, on the west, rises five storeys to 72 feet. The Aippasi Annabhishekam in October–November is the main festival, and the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam runs the temple.