Navapashanam Temple, Devipattinam

Navapashanam at Devipattinam, on the East Coast Road, is a shrine to the Navagrahas, the nine planetary deities, set in the sea. Legend says Rama, preparing to bridge the sea to Lanka, performed Navagraha worship here and installed the nine images himself from local clay. Nine stones stand in a square, the Sun at the centre, reached by a pathway of about 100 yards from an entrance arch on the shore, with steps down to the water on four sides.

It is a major place for rites for ancestors, and part of a pilgrim circuit with the Ramanathaswamy Temple at Rameswaram and the Adi Jagannatha Perumal Temple at Thiruppullani. Unlike most South Indian temples, pilgrims may perform worship on the images themselves, and offerings of nine different grains, one for each planet, are common. Close to a lakh of pilgrims come on Aadi Amavasai and Thai Amavasai. The temple is open from 4.30 am to 6.30 pm, and the village also has a Devi temple.