Sathya Vageeswarar Temple, Kalakkad

Sathya Vageeswarar Temple stands in Kalakkad, around 45 km from Tirunelveli, and is dedicated to Shiva as Sathya Vageeswarar, with his consort worshipped as Gomathi. The Pandyas first built it in the 13th century, and in the 15th and 16th centuries Vijayanagar and Nayak rulers added pillared halls and major shrines. A hall of musical pillars is attributed to the Travancore king Boothala Veera Udaya Marthanda Varman. Appar sang of the temple, making it one of the Vaippu Sthalams.

A granite wall encloses three precincts, its shrines and water bodies. The nine-tiered gateway tower rises 135 ft and carries some 1,500 stucco figures on the outside. Around 200 murals show scenes from the Ramayana, Mahabharata, Thiruvilayadal and the lives of Saivite saints; they and the stucco work were restored in 2008 using vegetable colours. Unusually, the temple granary is of masonry rather than wood. The main festival is Vaikasi Visakam in May–June, when the temple chariot is pulled through the streets of Kalakkad.