Mahalingeswarar Temple, Thiruvidaimarudur

The Mahalingeswaraswamy Temple at Tiruvidaimaruthur is dedicated to Shiva as Mahalingeswaraswamy, worshipped as a linga, with his consort as Bruhatsundarakuchaambika, and is counted among the seven major Shiva temples of the Saiva tradition. It is praised in the 7th-century Tevaram and by the 9th-century saint Manikkavacakar, and Pattinattar came here many times. The oldest masonry is 9th-century Chola work, with expansions up to the Thanjavur Nayaks in the 16th century, and 149 inscriptions record gifts from Pandyas, Cholas, Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas.

Described as one of the largest temple complexes in the state, it has four gopurams, many halls and three precincts, the second, of the Vijayanagara period, full of sculpture. A legend tells of a Chola prince, haunted by the spirit of a Brahmin he had killed, who prayed here and escaped by leaving through another gate; worshippers still go out by a second entrance. The temple holds six daily rituals and twelve festivals a year and is run by the Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam.