Thirumayam Fort The Thirumayam Fort is a 40-acre wide fortress in the town of Thirumayam in Pudukkottai-Karaikudi Highway in Pudukkottai District, Tamil Nadu, India. It was constructed by Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi, the Raja of Ramnad in 1687. Later the fort was handed over to his brother in law Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman. The fort has been extensively renovated by Archaeological Survey of India in 2012.

Address: State Highway 210, Pudukkottai District, Tirumayam, Tamil Nadu 622507, India

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The Thirumayam Fort is a 40-acre wide fortress in the town of Thirumayam in Pudukkottai-Karaikudi Highway in Pudukkottai District, Tamil Nadu, India. It was constructed by Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi, the Raja of Ramnad in 1687. Later the fort was handed over to his brother in law Raghunatha Raya Tondaiman.

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Kadiyapatti Kamadhenu Baba Temple is located in Kadiyapatti village Thirumayam, Pudukottai District.Approximately 22 kms from Pudukottai town.

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The temple is located in thirumaiyam South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The presiding deity is called Sathyamurthi Perumal. The temple is old and large, and striking in appearance. The main statue of Sathyamurthi Perumal approximately seven feet in height, is standing on a rock, along with his wives. Sculptures of Mahavishnu in this position can be viewed in many temples, although this is one of the largest examples.

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Main Deity : Bairavar.

Prominence of the Shrine : This temple is located in a place called Thirumayam in Pudukkottai district of Tamilnadu. He is also called Sri Kottai Bairavar. As per Vedas, Lord Shiva turned in the form of Bairavar and hence he is powerful. This temple has been maintained by the Archeological Survey of India.

The fort at the temple was constructed by King Ramanathapuram Sethupathy. On the south entrance Sannidhis were constructed for Ganesha and Hanuman. On the north side of the fort Bairavar Sannidhi was constructed.

Temple History : At Thirumayam there are other 2 famous temples are there. They are Sathyagreeswarar Temple and Satya Moorthy Perumal temple. Both the temples were constructed by Pallava kings and they carved the rocks as tunnel to build this temple. The Vishnu at this temple is very huge such a way that devotees need to see his head through one of the window and his foot through another window. Thiru Mangai Azhwar sung about this temple. As per mythological beliefs this temple was there before even Sri Rangam. The fort used to by Ramanapuram king is called as “Maravan Kottai”. The Bairavar at the entrance of the fort is considered to be the one who is saving all living beings around the fort. Hence he is called as Kottai Bairavar. In Tamil Nadu Thirumayam temple is the only place where Bairavar is facing the north direction. There is river in front of the temple called “Pamparu”. This temple is to do perform pariharas for any kind of Doshas. Devotees who born in Vishakam star should worship at this temple.

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Kudumiyanmalai Temple is a rock-cut shrine dedicated to Lord Shiva situated on a massive hillock, situated 20 km from Pudukottai.The cave temple here belongs to the late Pandhya period, around 8th century. The cave temple has a rock-cut Shiva lingam carved out of the mountains.

This temple has a lot of inscriptions - 120 to be precise - that's the highest in this region! The 1000 pillar mandap in the entrance is a latter addition- circa Vijayanagara period (nayakkar period) Unlike the erased musical inscription of Thirumayam, this variation of inscription is pretty well-guarded. Not the human security guards but nature's wild honey bees to be precise!! Thousands of them. We could venture nowhere near it. But from a distance, we did see it. These were inscribed by Rudhracharya's student. These inscriptions not just talk about sa, re, ga, ma pa, da, ni (that's do, re, me, fa, so, la, ti in western music!), but also 4 variations for each that sa, si, se, su, ra, ri, re, ru etc... making it 28 sounds. Plus it also talks about ka, ki, ke, a, i, e, totally the number of musical notes to, not the usually known 7, but to a mind-boggling 34!!! These notes are written as notations on huge rocky hillock plank of about 12ft x 13ft in 38 lines with 7 sections each. This is however undeciphered yet!

Totally outside, atop a hillock at a dangerous crevice, a relief sculpture of Shiva and Parvathi on Rishaba Vahana surrounded by 63 Nayanmars (Saivaite saints) is carved. It can be seen from an angle from inside the temple premises.

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Sittanavasal Cave ( Arivar Koil) Its name is a distorted form of Sit-tan-na-va-yil, word which means "the abode of great saints"

The monument is a rock-cut monastery or temple. Created by Tamil Śramaṇa, it is called the Arivar Koil, and is a rock cut cave temple of the Arihants. It contains remnants of notable frescoes from the 7th century. The murals have been painted with vegetable and mineral dyes in black, green, yellow, orange, blue, and white. Paintings have been created by applying colours over a thin wet surface of lime plaster.

Ancient structures such as Gol Gumbaz, Talagirisvara temple and this one are claimed to be relatively unappreciated.] Archaeological Survey of India has listed Sittanavasal Cave in the list of "Must See" Indian Heritage.

The Sittanavasal Cave are listed as one of the Adarsh Smarak Monument by Archaeological Survey of India.

While the Sittanavasal village is dated from 1st century BC to 10th century AD when Jainism flourished here, the Temple-cave was initially dated to Pallava King Mahendravarman I (580–630 AD) prior to his conversion from Jainism to Hinduism as a Shaivite.[9] However, an inscription attributes its renovation to a Pandyan king probably Maran Sendan (654–670 AD) or Arikesari Maravarman (670–700 AD).[4][10] The Śramaṇa beds on the hill top is attributed to the Jain era pilgrimage centre which lasted till the 9th century AD. However, in the Pudukkottai region, where the monuments are located, there are many archaeological finds of the megalithic burial sites from much earlier.

Sittanavasal is a rock-cut cave, situated on the western side of central part of a hill, which runs in a north–south direction. The hill measures approximately 70 metres (230 ft) in height, and sits above the surrounding plain which has some archaeological monuments. The Jain natural caverns, called Ezhadippattam are approached from the foothills. The cave is approached by climbing a few 100 steps.

The architectural features of the Sittanvasal Cave include the painting and sculptures found within its precincts.[3][4][13] Archaeological Survey of India is responsible for the maintenance of the cave and the Jain beds

The paintings have been painted in fresco-secco technique with many mineral colours. The painting depict beautiful lotus pond with lotus flowers, people collecting lotuses from the pond, two dancing figures, lilies, fish, geese, buffaloes and elephants.[14] Mulk Raj Anand said of the paintings, "Pallava craftsmen used greens and browns and puqiles, with a genuine ability and a lyrical flow of line. Lotuses spring up from imaginary ponds amid variegated greenery, under a bluish sheen."[15] In addition, inscriptions of the 9th and 10th century are also seen. The ceiling of the Ardhamandapam is decorated with murals from the 7th century.[16] The cave temple has simple pillars and sculptures of Jain Tirthankaras. However, most of the frescoes which were covered fully in plaster have been severely defaced or not clearly visible due to inadequate security and maintenance resulting in vandalism in the past five or six decades. Originally, the entire cave temple, including the sculptures, was covered with plaster and painted. The paintings are with theme of Jain Samavasarana, the "most attractive heavenly pavilion" (it means the attainment of nirvana), and Khatika bhumi

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