Apathsahayar Temple, Thirupazhanam

Apathsahayar Temple is a Shiva temple in Thirupazhanam, about 2 km from Tiruvaiyaru. Its presiding deity is praised in the 7th-century Tevaram, making it a Paadal Petra Sthalam, and it is regarded as the oldest of all Chola temples. Inscriptions record gifts from the Cholas, the Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas; the oldest masonry is 9th-century Chola work, and the gopurams came later, up to the 16th century.

The village is linked to Apoothi Adigal, a devotee who named his rest houses and all his sons after the saint Appar without ever meeting him. When Appar came, one of the sons died of a snakebite, and the boy is believed to have been restored to life by Apathsahayar in answer to Appar's prayer. The temple has three precincts, the second built in the Vijayanagar period and rich in sculpture, a jackfruit tree as its sacred tree, and a separate shrine to Brahma. It takes part in Tiruvaiyaru's Saptha Stanam festival, when glass palanquins carry deities between seven temples.