Famous Temples in Kumbakonam – A Very Big List with Google Map link

This is the only article which has long list of famous temples in Kumbakonam with google map links from our frequent visits. Probably its the only article in the internet with loads of temple list with google maps. Enjoy your cultural trip to Kumbakonam.

This article is useful for those who are looking to explore the famous and must visit temples in Kumbakonam, navagraha tour in Kumbakonam.

Kumbakonam became one of the favorite long bike trip destinations when we went on a 3 days trip for Masi Maham Festival in the year 2017. Soon in the same year, we planned a 11 days long bike trip from Bangalore to Kumbakonam. Because we loved the temple city’s breathtaking temples and its serene beauty.

So I can proudly say I know well about Kumbakonam like how well I know Bangalore. 

Famous temples in Kumbakonam and other important temples in and around Kumbakonam are covered in this article.

Famous Temples in Kumbakonam and Much More

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims flock this holy town on all auspicious days. 

As I mentioned earlier, we first went to Kumbakonam for the Masi Maham festival in the year 2017. Little did we know that time is that we are going to come back year after year to this beautiful temple town. 

The famous temples in Kumbakonam and many other things people don’t know about.

• Kumbakonam is famous for “Navagraha temples” – a unique spiritual experience of visiting 9 planet gods in their individual houses.
• The temple city is famous for “108 Divya Desam” temples – of 108 Historic Vishnu temples, 40 temples are in chola region (trichy -tanjore- kumbakonam belt).
• Kumbakonam is famous for “275 Devara Padal Petra Stalam” temples – Of 275 historic Lord Shiva Temples, 18 temples are in and around Kumbakonam town.
• The city is also famous for one of the largest manufacturers of Temple brass and bronze items.
• The Airavatesvara Temple built by Rajaraja Chola II (1146–73) during 12th century is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the Brihadeeswara Temple at Thanjavur, the Gangaikonda Cholapuram in Kumbakonam that are referred to as the Great Living Chola Temples.
• Less known famous thing about Kumbakonam is that they are known for their unique handloom weaving of silk sarees. “Thirubhuvanam” is the place to look for power looms and sarees that are available for buying in all shops in the centre town.
• The Flora and fauna of this town is very rich, thanks to the 3 rivers adorning the city, namely – Cauvery, Araslaru and Kollidam.
• Needless to say, Kumbakonam is wide known for its coffee. Every sip is a bliss.

(Because I am a coffee lover, I wouldn’t miss a chance to try good coffee).

Other than the above mentioned list of  historic temples, there are hundreds of important temples in and around Kumbakonam. 

You will fall in love with the majesty and beauty of the temple architecture. They are so big that it would even take some time to figure out the entrance to the temples. 

Here is the list of Kumbakonam famous temples and must visit temples in Kumbakonam once in life from our multiple road trip experiences. 

List Of Famous Temples in Kumbakonam – An Intro

I am giving a list of both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu temples in the following order.

(a) famous temples in the center town Kumbakonam. They are within 10km radius and are the most beautiful temples you must visit once in your life. You could skip going to Navagraha temples altogether unless you specifically wanted to go for some horoscope reasons.

(b) famous temples around Kumbakonam. These are nearby famous temples in Kumbakonam from the main town. And some are far from town like Tanjavur and Chidambram).

The following list of temples are my most favorite and must see temples in Kumbakonam. I cannot give you the exact plan of where to start and where to end the temple trip. It is not practically possible actually. I can share my side of the story, hoping it would help you in planning your trip. 

These are the most famous temples in Kumbakonam, let’s see them category wise.

A. List of Must Visit Famous Temples In Kumbakonam town

(i). List of Lord Shiva Temples

 Let’s start with Lord Shiva temple for 2 reasons – they are open for darshan very early compared to Lord Vishnu Temples. 

Click on the individual temples to get the google map link.

1. Kudamookku – Adi Kumabeswarar Temple – Padal Petra Stalam
2. Sri Nageswarar temple -Padal Petra Stalam
3. Sri Someswar temple – Padal Petra Stalam
4. Kottaiyur Shivan Temple – Padal Petra Stalam 
5. Kasi Vishwanathar Temple
6. Abhi Mukheswarar Temple – Facing the Mahamaham tank
7. Shri Airavatesvara Temple – UNESCO Heritage

(ii). List of Lord Vishnu temples

These are the famous Lord Vishnu temples in the centre town Kumbakonam, all the following temples are connected with Mahamaham Festival.

1. Chakrapani Temple – Vila Archanai which is usually performed to Lord Shiva is performed here for Lord Vishnu.
2. Sarangapani temple – Lord Ranganathar residing on a big chariot mandap is the attraction here. And the temple is also breathtakingly huge.
3. Ramaswamy temple – A Marvellous temple with intrinsic work of paintings depicting the Ramayanam.
4. Varahaperumal Temple.
5. Rajagopalaswamy temple.

B. List of Temples around Kumbakonam

(i). List of  Lord Shiva Temples

1. Thirusakthimuttam Temple,Padal Petra Temple –  Padal Petra Stalam
2. Gnanambiga Sametha Sri Thenupureeswarar Thirukovil – padal petra stalam
3.  Pazhayarai Vadathali Temple,Padal Petra Temple -padal petra stalam
4. Sri Garbarakshambigai Temple Thirukarukavur (for child birth) – padal petra stalam – Very beautiful Goddess Parvathi
5. Thirunariyur Shiva Temple – padal petra stalam (Also visit nearby Shri Saneeswaran Temple – Sani Stalam)
6. Thiruvanjiyam Arulmigu Vanchinadha Swamy Thirukovil – Lord Yama Statue
7. Sri Naganatha Swami Temple (Raghu Stalam) – Padal Petra Temple – Majestic Temple famous for Afternoon pooja on sundays to Planet Raghu.
8. Thirumanancheri Shiva Temple
9. Sri Kampahareswar Temple – Tirubhuvanam Majestic Very Beautiful temple.
10. Sri Mahalingaswamy Temple Thiruvidaimaruthur – Padal Petra Temple
11. Gangai Konda Cholapuram Thiru Brihadeswarar Thirukkovil – UNESCO Heritage
12. Thirumetrali Shiva Temple – Bramha Nandeeswarar Temple (Broken Lord Shiva temple with big Square Sivalinga)
13. Pasupatheeswarar Temple –padal petra stalam
14. Thiru Nallur KalyanaSundareswarar temple – padal petra stalam
15. Palaivana Nathar Temple,Padal Petra Temple – padal petra stalam
16. Sri Sivapuranathar Temple -padal petra stalam
17. Sakkottai Shiva Temple – Sri Amirthakalasanathar Temple (raghu Stalam) -padal petra stalam
18. Maruthanallur ShivaTemple -padal petra stalam
19. Sri Swarnapureeswarar Temple -Alagaputhur Shiva Temple – Padal Petra stalam
20. Tirupandurai Shiva Temple – padal petra stalam
21. Sri Sornapureeshwarar Temple, Andankoil – padal petra stalam
22. Thiruvirumpoolai Shiva Temple (Guru Stalam) – Padal Petra stalam
23. Kovilvenni Shiva Temple – Padal Petra stalam
24. Arulmigu Sathurangam Vallavan Temple – padal petra stalam
25. Shri Amirthanayagi Samedha Naganathaswamy Temple (Raghu Kethu Parikara temple) -Padal Petra stalam
26. Sri Saraparameswarar Temple -padal petra stalam
27. Thirunaalur Meignanam Sivan Temple -padal petra stalam
28. Kudavasal Koneswaran Shiva temple – padal petra stalam
29. Thirukollampudur Shiva Temple -padal petra stalam
30. Narthanapureeswarar Temple, Thalaiyalangadu (Lord Natarajar)
31. Manakal Ayyampettai – padal petra stalam
32. Karaiveera nathar Shiva Temple — padal petra stalam
33. Shri Suryanar Kovil – Suriyan Stalam
34. Sri Vijayanathar Temple, Thiruvijayamangai -Padal Petra Temple
35. Sri Vijayanathar Temple, Thiruvijayamangai,Padal Petra Temple
36. Innambur Shiva Temple – Padal
37. Sri Saatchinathar Temple, Thirupurambiyam
38. Vilvaneshwarar Temple, Thiruvaikavur,Padal Petra Temple
39. Vada Kurangaduthurai temple  – padal
40. Thiruvisanallur Shiva Temple -PAdal
41.  Sri Karkadeswarar Temple -padal
42. Apath Sahayeswarar Temple (Siva Temple), Aduthurai – padal
43. Thirukodeeswarar Temple, Tirukodikaval – padal 
44. Thirukozhambam Shiva Temple,Padal Petra Temple
45. Sri Shanbakaranyeshwarar Temple,Padal Petra Temple
46. Thiruneelakkudi Shiva Temple – padal
47. Shri Natarajar Temple, Konerirajapuram, padal
48. Thiru Anniyur Shiva Temple, padal
49. Karuveli Sarguna Natheswarar Temple, (very big temple pond)-  padal
50. Thiruveezhimizhalai Shiva Temple (big temple) -padal
51. Thirumarugal Shiva Temple
52. Uthrapatheeshwaraswamy Temple, Thiruchengattangudi
53. Nannilam Shiva Temple
54. Thirukondeswaram Shiva Temple
55. Thirupanaiyur Shiva Temple
56. Thirupugalaur Vardhamaneswarar Temple

(ii). List of Lord Vishnu Temples 

These are the list of Divya Desam temples situated nearby from centre town Kumbakonam.

1. Sri Oppiliappan Temple
2. Arulmigu Thiruppullamboothangudi Valvill Ramar Temple
3. Sri Aandu Alakkum Ayyan Perumal Temple
4. Shri Srinivasa Perumal Temple / Nachiyar kovil
5. Sri Saranathan Perumal Temple
6. Sri Sowri Raja Perumal Temple
7. Gajendra Varadar Temple

Famous Temples around Kumbakonam – Nearby cities

First we saw a list of must visit famous temples in Kumbakonam within 10kms radius(A). Second we saw important temples around Kumbakonam with little travel distances (B) (about 1hr).

Lastly, here is the list of famous temples around Kumbakonam that is – quite far from this city.

I tried my best to give this list up until the Tiruvaiyaru, Mayiladuthurai and Thiruvarur routes.

(C). List of Lord Shiva temples

1. Gangai Konda Cholapuram Thiru Brihadeswarar Thirukkovil
2.  Sri Kampahareswar Temple, Tirubhuvanam
3. Sri Mayuranathar Temple – Mayiladuthurai
4. Vaithiyanatha swamy temple (Sevvai Stalam) -Vaitheeswarankoil 
5. Sirkazhi Shiva Temple – Sirkazhi
6. Sri Abhirami Amirthakadeswarar Temple – Thirukadaiyur 
7. Sri Dharbaranyeswara Swamy Temple (Saturn Temple) – Tirunallar
8. Thiruvarur Shiva Temple – Thiruvarur
9. Sri Aiyarappar Temple – Tiruvaiyaru
10. Thanjavur Big Temple
11. Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
12. Ranganthar temple, Trichy
13. Rockfort temple, Trichy

The above temple lists are the very popular Lord Shiva temples in the major districts around Kumbakonam. We have covered all the temples during our long bike trip in the year 2017 and 2018. 

If you are on a short trip, but want to make the most of your trip, here is the plan.

In that way, you will not only see Kumbakonam, but also cover most of the historically important places just in one trip.

That’s what many travelers do. Because all the above mentioned places are famous only for the temples.

Except for Chidambaram, you could go sightseeing to Pichavaram mangrove forest. 

Since the accommodation and food was satisfactory beyond expectation we stayed in Kumbakonam for many days. Apart from that, we also loved the city very much. From there we traveled to the nearby cities by bike.

Note that there are no waterfalls in Kumbakonam, but it has lots of waterdams, lakes and ponds. One such famous place is Anaikarai Bridge – a very old bridge over the Kollidam river.

Read – Kumbakonam is Famous for Not Just temples.

How We Covered Many Temples in a Day

Even Though we had stayed for more than a week in Kumbakonam, we had crazy plans to cover as many temples we could in a day possible. 

Once we have covered all the temples in Kumbakonam (A), we then traveled to nearby towns like Sirkazhi, Mayavaram, Thanjavur, Thiruvaiyaru, Mannargudi, etc

We covered many temples as we could because of the following 2 reasons –

• We raised early, we were in the temple for the early pooja. Tirelessly, we visited temples until their closing time at 12 noon. Needless to worry about the food, as you will get plenty of good choices along the way. Almost all Lord shiva temples are open for darshan as early as 6am. Eventhough, Lord Vishnu temples are open early but early morning darshan time varies depending on the temple. Sometimes you would have to wait until 8 am. Therefore it is smart to visit the Shiva temples first, then later visit the Lord Vishnu temples.
• We went by Motorbike, and it’s just the two of us. Both our energy level matched and we loved every single day of non-stop travelling in bike. We had a tank bag where we kept our SLR, mobiles, chargers, power banks and water bottles to keep the trip plan smooth. We never in a day deviated from our plan, thanks to my 10 days of research and planning.

• Category: Road Trips From Bangalore
• Tag: Kumbakonam, road trip from Bangalore, TamilNadu, tamilnadu culture trip