Arjuneswarar Temple, Kadathur

Arjuneswarar Temple stands beside the Amaravathi River in Kadathur village, Tiruppur district, and dates from the Chola period. Shiva is worshipped here as Arjuneswarar, also called Marudheesar, with his consort as Gomathi Amman. The linga is said to have lain for ages beneath the roots of an Arjuna tree, whose impressions still show on it. In the temple's story, cattle were seen letting their milk flow onto the roots of a Marudha tree; when the king had it cut, blood seeped out and the linga was found, and the mark of the ring he pressed on the wound remains. Another belief holds that Arjuna worshipped here while the Pandavas lived around nearby Dharapuram.

The river flows around the temple, and morning light reflects off the water onto the linga; twice a year the sun's rays fall on it directly. Unusually, the Gomathi Amman shrine is on the right of the main deity, and, as at Kashi, a cremation ground lies in front of the sanctum. There is a marble Dakshinamurthy brought from Kashi and a separate shrine to Saneeswara.