Padikasu Nathar Temple, Azhagaputhur

Padikasu Nathar Temple, also known as Swarnapureeswarar Temple, stands in the village of Azhagaputhur, in Thanjavur district, about 6 km out of Kumbakonam towards Tiruvarur. Shiva is worshipped as Padikasunathar, a self-manifested lingam, with Parvati as Soundaranayagi. The village is the birthplace of Pugazh Thunai Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars. This poor farmer, legend says, kept carrying water for the deity through a famine until, weakened by age, he fell over the image, and Shiva then left him a coin, a padikasu, every day, relieving saint and region alike.

The temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam sung by Appar, Sambandar and Sundarar. The present masonry is Chola work of the 9th century, with expansion under the Thanjavur Nayaks in the 16th, and inscriptions record gifts under Rajaraja I and Rajendra I. A three-tiered gopuram on the east leads into two precincts. Images of Surya and Chandra near the entrance face each other, and devotees place two coins at the deity's pedestal and take one back as a talisman.