Badrakali Amman Temple, Sivakasi

The Badrakali Amman Temple in Sivakasi, Virudhunagar district, is dedicated to Badrakali, a fierce form of Parvati, and is the town's best-known landmark. It is believed to date from the 18th century and was enlarged in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the late 1800s the temple belonged to the Nadar community, and during the Sivakasi riots of 1899 it was shut for several days and its festivals were called off.

The five-tiered rajagopuram rises 110 feet, and unusually it does not line up with the sanctum. The goddess sits in a north-facing shrine to the left of the tower, beneath a gold-plated vimana, with a large tank and a bell tower in line with her. A shrine of Heramba Vinayaka shows the five-headed Ganesha with his usual bandicoot rather than the lion he normally rides in this form, and eight forms of Lakshmi surround the sanctum. Panguni Pongal and Chithirai Pongal, each lasting ten days, are the main festivals.