Thirunadhikkara Cave Temple
Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu
Thirunandikkara Cave Temple, also referred to as Thirunanthikarai rock-cut Shiva temple, is a 9th-century rock-cut Hindu cave temple in Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is dedicated to Shiva, with murals and inscriptions. It is attributed to the Ay king Vikramaditya Varaguna by Archaeological Survey of India, but to Pandya rulers (Nedunjadaiyan) a few decades earlier by Ajit Kumar, an archaeologist. It is part of a larger active temple complex named the Thirunanthikarai Shri Nandeeswara temple, Thirunanthikarai and is carved out of the side of a rocky hillock to the north of the temple complex. According to Rao, one of the inscriptions suggests that this may be a late 8th-century cave temple or early 9th.
From the Wikipedia article Thirunadhikkara Cave Temple, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it is
Kanniyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. Open in Google Maps
How to reach
- By train: nearest station Parassala railway station (PASA), about 20 km by road.
- By air: Thiruvananthapuram International Airport (TRV), about 53 km by road.
In-depth temple guides nearby
- Attukal Bhagavathy Temple – Attukal, Manacaud, Thiruvananthapuram (about 48 km)
- Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple – East Fort, Thiruvananthapuram (about 50 km)
- Bhagavathy Amman Temple (Kumari Amman Temple), Kanyakumari – Kanyakumari (Kanniyakumari), at the southern tip of India (about 56 km)
- Arulmigu Subramania Swamy Temple, Tiruchendur – Tiruchendur, Thoothukudi district (on the shore of the Gulf of Mannar) (about 115 km)
- Sabarimala Sree Dharma Sastha Temple – Sabarimala, Perunad, Pathanamthitta district (inside Periyar Tiger Reserve) (about 147 km)
Timings and rituals for this temple aren't in our guide yet – check locally before you travel. More temples in Tamil Nadu