Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Puducherry

A five-tiered rajagopuram marks the entrance, and the granite wall behind it encloses every shrine. The Cholas built the original in the 11th century and the Pandyas expanded it in the 12th, which is why the architecture reads as a storehouse of both. Vishnu is worshipped here as Varadaraja and Lakshmi as Perundevi Thayar, in Vaishnavite and Shaktite traditions together, and the Archaeological Survey of India maintains the temple as a religious monument in the heritage town. Time a visit for Chithrai, April into May, if you want it at full volume: the ten-day Brahmostavam and the 25-day festival for Rama and Sita's marriage both fall then.