Aiyaṉār — regional protector-god of Pudukkottai
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A Pudukkottai regional instantiation of Aiyaṉār — the central kāval deivam of the Tamil countryside. The Pudukkottai Aiyaṉār temples are known for their extraordinary terracotta horse tradition — thousands of horses offered in a single shrine.
Pudukkottai's Aiyaṉār temples (especially at Vanjur, Melakonda, and Pudur) host the most extraordinary accumulations of terracotta horse offerings in the world — reaching into the tens of thousands at larger shrines. The horses are commissioned by devotees as vow-fulfillment and then left on the temple grounds in perpetuity. Over generations the terracotta herds grow until they resemble an infinite cavalry. The tradition has been photographed by Stephen Huyler and documented by Kailasam Pillai as a unique religious-material culture.
