Amirthakadeswarar Temple, Melakadambur

Amirthakadeswarar Temple stands at Melakadambur, historically called Tirukadambur, in the Cuddalore district of Tamil Nadu. Shiva is worshipped here as Amirthakadeswarar, a name built from the words for nectar, pot and lord, and his consort is Vidyujothi Nayaki. The temple is credited to the Chola emperor Kulottunga I and is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalams praised in the Tevaram hymns of Tirunavukkarasar and Sundarar.

Built in the Dravidian style, it belongs to the type Tamil texts call a karak kovil, a temple modelled on a festival chariot. Local legend says Indra tried to haul the shrine to the heavens for his mother Aditi, until Ganesha pressed it down with his foot and a wheel sank into the earth; that sunken wheel can still be seen. The lingam itself is held to have formed from a drop of nectar spilled as Ganesha carried the pot away from the Devas.