Best Places to Visit in Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu
Beaches
Samiyarpettai Beach
Samiyarpettai is a village on the Indian east coast about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Pondicherry and 210 kilometres (130 mi) south of Chennai, located on the Coromandel coast of the Bay of Bengal. The coastal village of Samiyarpettai lies midway between Cuddalore and Chidambaram, east of Pudhuchattiram. The village is surrounded by coconut trees, with brooks running alongside. It also hosts a famous temple “Shri Pinnai Vazhi Amman Shrine.” It is one of the biggest temples alongside the Cuddalore coast. Recently, Samiyarpettai Beach is getting crowd’s attention and has become one of the popular holiday spots.
Silver Beach
It is located 2 km from downtown Cuddalore. However, it is untouched by the busy life of the city. It is the second-longest beach on the Coromandel Coast and one of the longest beaches in Asia. The 57 km long stretch of beach faces severe seafront erosion. There are town buses which ply frequently between Cuddalore town bus stand and Silver Beach. It is also accessible by taxis and autos from different parts of the town.
To the south of the beach, the south Cuddalore Bay area appears as if it is a separate island. The backwater separating the main beach from the island-like structure is a safe place for water sports. To the west, a river flows into dense mangrove forests teeming with birds. On the coast, there is a century-old lighthouse.
Temples
Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram
Nataraja Temple, also referred to as Chidambaram Nataraja Temple or Thillai Nataraja Temple, is dedicated to Nataraja Shiva as the Lord of Dance. The temple has mythical roots, and a Shiva shrine existed at the site when the town was known as Thillai. Chidambaram, the name of the city and the temple, literally means “atmosphere of wisdom.” The temple wall carvings display all the 108 karanas from the Natya Shastra by Bharata Muni, and these postures form a foundation of Bharatanatyam, a classical Indian dance.
The present temple was built in the 10th century when Chidambaram was the capital of the Chola dynasty, making it one of the oldest surviving active temple complexes in South India. While Shiva as Nataraja is the primary deity of the temple, it reverentially presents major themes from Shaktism, Vaishnavism, and other traditions of Hinduism. The Chidambaram temple complex, for example, has the earliest known Amman or Devi temple in South India, a pre-13th century Surya shrine with chariot, shrines for Ganesha, Murugan and Vishnu, one of the earliest known Shiva Ganga sacred pools, large mandabam for the convenience of pilgrims (choultry, ambalam or sabhai), and other monuments. Shiva himself is presented as the Nataraja performing the Ananda Tandava (“Dance of Delight”) in the golden hall of the shrine Pon Ambalam.
Devanathaswamy Temple
Devanathaswamy Temple (also called Thiruvanthipuram Kovil) is located in Thiruvanthipuram. This temple is dedicated to Lord Vishnu. Constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture, the temple is glorified in the Divya Prabandha, the early medieval Tamil canon of the Azhwar saints from the 6th–9th centuries AD. It is one of the 108 Divyadesam dedicated to Vishnu, who is worshiped as Devanathaswamy and his consort Lakshmi as Hemabhujavalli. The temple in its current form is believed to have been built during the Medieval Chola period, with later expansion from the Pandyas, Hoysala Empire, and Vijayanagara Empire. The temple has fifty inscriptions from Kulothunga Chola I (1070–1120), Vikrama Pandya, Vira Pandya III, Vijayanagar king Achyuta Deva Raya (1529–1542 CE), and Kopperunjinga.
Thillai Kali Temple, Chidambaram
Thillai Kali Temple is located on the outskirts of the town of Chidambaram. It was built by Chola king Kopperunjingan, who ruled between 1229 and 1278. Legend says that Goddess Kalli Devi moved here after losing to Lord Shiva in the celestial dance contest.
Eco-Tourism
Pichavaram Mangrove Forest
Pichavaram is situated on the southeast coast of India in the Tamil Nadu State. It is located about 225 km south of Chennai and 15 km northeast of Chidambaram, Cuddalore district, at the confluence of Uppanar, a tributary of the Coleroon River. Fishing villages, croplands, and aquaculture ponds surround the area. The Pichavaram is one of the unique eco-tourism spots in South India. The backwaters, interconnected by the Vellar and Coleroon river systems, offer abundant scope for water sports such as rowing, kayaking, and canoeing.