Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal Temple, Kallankurichi

Kaliyuga Varadaraja Perumal Temple, also called Kaliyaperumal temple, stands at Kallankurichi, 10 km from Ariyalur, and is dedicated to Vishnu. It has no idol as its presiding deity: worship is offered instead to a granite pillar about 12 ft tall, known as Kambamperumal, with a small figure of Hanuman carrying the Sanjeevi hill carved near its base. The pillar is claimed to be about 8,000 years old and the temple about 500.

The sthala purana tells of Maangan, a cowherd who searched in vain for a pregnant cow until a divine voice guided him to her and her newborn calf. Later the voice chided him for ignoring a sacred pillar there; returning, he found it wet with the cow's milk and understood that Vishnu had helped him. Pillar worship is mentioned in Sangam literature such as the Pattinappalai. Carved figures of the temple's founders stand in the sanctum, and the processional deity Varadharaja Perumal has a large niche.