Mandakolathur
Legend has it that Bhima killed Bakasura here during the days of Mahabharata and his head fell in this village. Bhima pressed the fallen head into earth causing a depression which became a pond; because of this, the place came to be called Kapala Thadaka Puram which in Tamil got translated to Mandakolathur. The Pandavas thus came to pray to the deities at this temple resulting in the latter being named after Dharma or Yudhishtira.- as Dharmanatheswarar accompanied by Dharmasamvardhini. Since this was the first temple where Amman Kamakshi prayed for removal of Brahma Hatthi Dosham. It is said that even now, those who are similarly affected should pay obeisance to the Deity here for redemption.
Shrines were built by the Cholas during the Ninth Century for the five Pandavas. There is a Bhima Lingam in the main shrine even today. There are also Lingams on the river bank away from the temple for Arjuna and Nakula though the Sannidanams are in badly damaged condition; the one for Sahadevan is totally lost. During the Chola days, this place turned out to be a centre of vedic learning; as a sign of this there is a Veda Patashala in the village even today; there is also a presence of Shankara Math here.
The temple is located 47 kms to the east of Tiruvannamalai and 10 kms to the east of Polur.
