Historical Period5c BCE
5th c. BCE onwards; reconstructed 1948
📷 Navaneethpp · [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
Deities
Ketheeswaram of Mannar — 2nd Pancha-Ishwaram
Ketheeswaram — Shiva near the ancient port
Ketheeswaram — Shiva near the ancient port
Paadal Petra Sthalangal are Shiva temples sung in the hymns of the 3 Tevaram saints — Tirugnana Sambandar, Tirunavukkaracar (Appar), and Sundaramurti (Sundarar). Composed 7th–9th c. CE, the Tevaram is the sacred geography of Tamil Shaivism and foundational to the Shaiva-Siddhanta philosophy.
Ancient port of Mathotam. Ravana's father Vishravas worshipped here. Destroyed by Portuguese; rediscovered 1903 and rebuilt.
Daily 5-fold puja (ushat-kalam at dawn, kala-santi 6 AM, ucchikalam noon, sayaraksha dusk, ardha-jama 9 PM). Principal offerings: jala-abhisheka, panchamrita (milk/curd/ghee/honey/jaggery), vibhuti, bilva leaves.
Every Paadal Petra's sanctity rests on WHICH saint sang of it and HOW MANY pasurams. Tamil Shaiva tradition treats the Tevaram as Dravida Veda — equivalent in holiness to the Sanskrit Vedas.
