GANGAIKONDACHOLAPURAM (The name means, `The town of the Chola who captured the Ganges') is a principal Chola temple site (1002-44.). This is a superb, well preserved temple, modeled on the Tanjore masterpiece, once situated on a lake. This elegant temple is beautifully adorned with exquisite sculptures.

DARASURAM an early 13th-century structure reveals the extraordinary artistic talents of the Chola. Although ruined, it is on of the most important of the major Chola temples, dating to the 11th and 12th centuries.  Many of its sculptures adorn museum collections, but enough remains on site to make it worth visiting.