Vellore: Padavedu Temple

Padavedu is a Pilgrimage centre with many ancient temples and will need at least 2 days to cover all of them. It is situated in the Vellore-Polur route, centrally among Vellore, Polur and Arani at 20 - 25 km from all these three places. All that is there in this village are beautiful ancient temples and lush green fields. Padavedu is a small village in between Vellore and Tiruvannamalai.Probably the only place where there is a temple in the middle of a banana and paddy field

During 12-14th Centuries the Sambuvarayar chieftains ruled this area under the patronage of the Pandyas. For a short time they became independent of Pandyas and subsequently they came under the rule of Kempagowda. During their reign, Sambuvarayas rendered great service to art and religion. These temples were built at various points of time, but most of the improvements and decorations appear to have been done when the Sambuvarayar came under the sway of the Vijayanagar empire. Most of these temples excepting the hill temples were submerged in sand due to the sandstorm and they were discovered in 1993. The Renukambal trust (owned by TVS) maintains these temples in a clean and beautiful fashion.