Adambar-I
Adambar is a village in the Nannilam taluk of Tiruvarur district in Tamil Nadu, India. Demographics. As per the 2001 census, Adambar OR Athambar had a population of 1,609 with 824 males and 785 females. The sex ratio was 953. The literacy rate was 80.74. A Beautiful village surrounded by Greeneries in all sides. Adambar shri Kothandaramar temple and a 13th century Shiva temple are located in the village. It has historical connection with Great Epic Ramayana. This is the place where Rama vow to kill(Atham) the magic dear which Sita devi wanted. The village name is derived  from this historical incident. People are Generous in nature.. following ancient temples are in Adambar village Sri Siddhi Vinayaga Temple. Shri Kothandaramar Temple. Lord Siva Temple. Maha Mariamman Temple. Pidari Amman Temple. Adambar Temple: Adambar is the last Pancha Rama kshetram in this belt. It is also known as Hathambar. This village is around 22 km from Tiruvarur and 8 km from Nannilam. There are plenty of buses to Nannilam from Tiruvarur and one could engage an auto from there. Though the temple we are going to visit is popularly called Kothandaramar Temple, it is actually the temple of Sri  Ranganathar. The priest Mr Sridharan who is doing pooja here, also takes care of the nearby Hanuman temple. Hence it is preferable to contact him before visiting the temple. The contact number is ℅ Mr Shankar, Post Master, 8940970630 as he holds the keys of the temple and assists the visiting pilgrims. This is a very small temple which is known more for the Rama Parivar. The temple which was in bad shape, underwent extensive renovation and the Mahasamprokshanam was done in 2002 under the guidance of Paranur Mahatma Shri Krishna Premi Swamigal. In 2017, renovation work was going on  to repair the vimanam and local readers may confirm whether Mahasamprokshanam is since done. This temple, as well as several other nearby places, are associated with Ramayana characters and incidents. Specifically, this place is connected with the Mareecha episode (golden deer wanted by Seetha). The place She sighted it is Nallamangudi, where Rama decided to shoot the arrow Hathambar ( Hatha= strike, hurt) which later became Adambar. The place where the deer went on the right side, is Valangaiman ( Valathu= right) and where Mareecha died is Kollumangudi (Kolluthal=kill). There are also other places associated with Ramayana- Padagacheri where Seetha  dropped Her ornament Padagam (anklet) and the place Thadagai was killed became Thatakanthapuram. There is an interesting sthala puranam connected with this temple. After the Lankan war, when Rama Parivar was returning to Ayodhya, Seetha asked the Lord how She (Mahalakshmi) was influenced by Maya and that too in the presence of Shri Rama. Rama replied that as They had taken human forms, they were susceptible to human failings! Seetha responded saying that She would not once again fall prey to Maya. Rama just snapped His fingers and out came, a beautiful golden deer, which started prancing in front of  Seetha. She was totally enchanted by the beautiful deer and asked Rama to fetch it for Her! Smilingly, Rama took His bow and arrow and uttered Hathambar (Hatham=strike, hurt, kill) and shot the arrow. Hence this place came to be called Hathambar. In the Rama shrine, apart from Seetha, Lakshmana and Hanuman, a golden deer is also present, to confirm the above story. The Rama idol looks similar to the Vaduvur murthy. The bronzes of the Rama Parivar are beautiful and they are believed to have been made subsequent to the Paruthiyur temple bronzes. The Bronze idol of  Varadaraja is more beautiful than even that of Sri Rama in this temple! There is no rajagopuram to this small temple. Only a small one tier gopuram like structure with the sudhai images of Rama, Lakshmana and Seetha, greet us. After entering the temple, we see the shrine of Shri Rama. By the side of this shrine, is present Shri Ranganayaki sametha Shri Ranganathar. The utsavar Rajagopala Swamy is also present here. Garuda is present in the prakaram. Adambar also houses an ancient Shiva temple in a dilapidated condition. It is believed that both Indra and his elephant Airavatham, had  worshipped in this temple. However, not much information is available about this temple. Note: Photos and some of the inputs were collected from various web sites.