Odhanavaneswarar Temple, Tiruchotruturai

Odhanavaneswarar Temple, also called Oppillaselvar Temple, stands on the bank of the Kaveri at Tiruchotruthurai, 10 kilometres from Thanjavur and 3 kilometres from Thiruvaiyaru. Shiva is worshipped here as Odhanavaneswarar, with Parvati as Annapoorani, and the temple, praised in the 7th-century Tevaram, is known as Dakshina Kailasam. It is described as the birthplace of Nandi, Shiva's bull, and is one of seven temples in the Saptha Stanam festival.

Legend tells of a devotee, Arulalan, given a vessel that never ran out of food, and of a famine ended when Shiva rewarded the penance of the sage Gautama; the village name refers to canal banks where rice grew, and pilgrims at the festival are still fed here. The oldest parts are 9th-century Chola work, with additions up to the Thanjavur Nayaks. The east-facing temple has three courtyards and is entered through a three-tiered gopuram; of five niche images on the sanctum walls, only Dakshinamurthy and Brahma remain.