Jagathrakshaga Perumal Temple, Aduthurai

The name Jagathrakshaga ("protector of the world") reflects the temple's founding legend involving the river goddess Kaveri, who is traditionally held to have found relief and purification through Vishnu at this very site. Thirumangai Alvar's hymn here also refers to the village as Pugunthaan Oor, "the place where Vishnu went inside the earth," a name tied to the same founding tradition.

Temple tradition holds that all rivers in turn come to the Kaveri to cleanse themselves of accumulated impurity, and that the Kaveri herself, needing the same cleansing, was advised by Brahma to worship Vishnu here, after which she was relieved. A second, separate legend tells of a parrot devoted to Vishnu that was shot down in the forest nearby; Vishnu is said to have rescued the bird and revealed to it the story of its past life, that it had once been a learned but arrogant soul who insulted others, and was reborn as a parrot as a consequence, its constant repetition of Vishnu's name eventually earning it release from that karma and a vision (prathyaksham) of the Lord himself.

Separate from legend, the temple is generally dated to the late 8th century CE, built under the Medieval Cholas, with later contributions recorded from the Vijayanagara empire and the Madurai Nayaks.

Daily worship follows the customary schedule of the Kumbakonam-area Divya Desams.