Sivagurunathaswamy templeis a Hindu temple dedicated to Shiva located in the village of Aduthurai, Tamil Nadu, India.

The image of Nataraja, a prominent and ancient Chola art, was stolen and brought back from overseas after an elongated legal battle.

In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Hindu Religious and Endowment Board of the Government of Tamil Nadu.

[4] The temple is one of the 67 sthalams or holy abodes mentioned in the Thevaram located in the ancient Chola kingdom.

[4] The present temple in the village dates back to the Later Chola period and covers an area of 1.3 acres (5,300 m2).

[4][6] In 1951, idols of Nataraja, Tirugnanasambandar, Somaskandar, Pillaiyar and two other goddesses from the Later Chola period were recovered by a farmer Annamuthu Padaiyachi in Kuppuswamy Iyer's field.

On 10 October 1953, the District Collector of Thanjavur donated the idols to the Sivagurunathasamy temple to be installed along with other deities.

Some time later, Dr. Douglas Barrett of the British Museum, who had visited the temple in 1961,[8] wrote in his book South Indian Bronze that the Nataraja idol in the Sivagurunathaswamy temple was fake and that the original idols were in the possession of a private art collector in the United States of America.

[7] The Nataraja idol was handed over to Dr. M. S. Nagaraja Rao, the Director-General of the Archaeological Survey of India in 1987[7][9] and is currently present in a safe-vault in the Kapaleeswara temple, Mylapore, Chennai.

[7] The temple finds mention in Tevaram, the 7th century 12 volume Saiva canonical work by Tamil saints, namely Appar, Sundarar and Campantar.

The temple rituals are performed six times a day; Kalasanthi at 6:00 a.m., Irandam Kalm at 9:00 a.m., Uchikalam at 12:00 a.m., Sayarakshai at 6:00 p.m, Irandam Kalm at 7:30 p.m., and Arthajamam at 9:00 p.m.. Each ritual comprises four steps: abhisheka (sacred bath), alangaram (decoration), naivethanam (food offering) and deepa aradanai (waving of lamps) for Sivagurunathar and Aryambal.

Sun's rays fall directly on the sanctum on three days in April when the temple receives lot of devotees.