Pallikonda Perumal Cave Temple, Malayadippatti

Pallikonda Perumal Temple is a rock-cut cave shrine to Vishnu at Malayadippatti, a small village in Kulathur taluk, about 33 km from Pudukkottai. It forms a twin with a Shiva cave, the Vahisvaramudayar Temple, on whose western side it lies, and it is also called Kan Thirantha Perumal Temple. Inscriptions date it to the 7th or 8th century CE, and the Archaeological Survey of India looks after it.

The reclining Vishnu, Pallikonda Perumal, is cut from the cave itself, with Mahalakshmi and Bhudevi, and resembles the image in the Thirumayam cave temple. Unusually, the door guardians have only two hands rather than four. Legend says the sage Dhivakara did penance here so that Vishnu would remain in image form for worshippers of the Kali Yuga; as Kannniraintha Perumal, he is believed to cure ailments of the eye. Pujas are held four times a day, and the temple is open 6 am to noon and 5 to 8 pm.