Mayiladuthurai is a town in the Nagapattinam District of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Mayiladuthurai taluk of Nagapattinam district and is the second-largest town in the district. Mayiladuthurai is situated at distance of 281 kilometres south-west of Chennai, 70 kilometres north-east of Thanjavur and 50 kilometres north-west of Nagapattinam.
Mayiladuthurai gets its name from the peahen form in which the Hindu goddess Parvathi worshipped the god Shiva at this place. It was formerly known by its Sanskrit names Māyavaram and Mayūram (English translation: Peacock town). The town is one of the 274 Saiva holy places in the world.
Mayiladuthurai is of considerable antiquity and cultural and religious significance. The town must have originated in the Medieval Chola period though there are suburbs which predate the town itself. Mayiladuthurai was ruled by the Early Cholas, Medieval Cholas, Later Cholas, Pandyas, the Vijayanagar Empire, Thanjavur Nayaks and the Thanjavur Marathas before it was annexed by the British East India Company along with the rest of the Thanjavur Maratha kingdom in 1799. It rose to be an important town during British rule when it formed a part of Tanjore district. The town was constituted as a grade III municipality in the year 1866. Currently, Mayiladuthurai forms a grade I municipality.
The town is situated on a flat plain on the banks of the Kaveri River and is surrounded by paddy fields. The town is situated on the northern border of the Chola Nadu region of Tamil Nadu.
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