Sivalokanathar Temple, Gramam

Sivalokanathar Temple, also called Thirumundeeswaram, is a Shiva temple in Gramam, a village in Villupuram district on the road from Villupuram to Thiruvennainallur. Shiva is worshipped as Sivalokanathar and Parvati as Soundaranayagi, and the temple is a Paadal Petra Sthalam sung by Sambandar. In Appar's day, in the 7th century, the deity was known as Aruttali Mahadevar.

The temple has close ties to Chola military history. Under Parantaka I a military station in the area was headed by his son Rajaditya, and inscriptions from Parantaka's reign record that the temple was rebuilt in stone and that Rajaditya gave lamps. Rajaditya was later killed in the Takkolam war against the Rashtrakutas, speared as he sat on his elephant; inscriptions of the Rashtrakuta king Krishna III record the Chola defeat and his death. The present structure was built by Vijayanagara kings in the 16th century: a seven-tiered gopuram leads through granite walls to a square sanctum 13 ft across, with the temple tank outside the main gateway.