Saturday, September 8, 2012

Namma Madurai: History in bits and pieces

Kallikudi is perhaps one of the villages that failed to record its antiquity. Except for the inscriptions, mostly misplaced during repair work, found at the Kulasekera Perumal Temple, the village has a very little of recorded history. The presence of Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu temples show both Saivaites and Vaishnavites lived here. 



The 900-years-old Kulasekera Perumal Temple has sanctum sanctorum and mahamandap. Vagaries of nature and human neglect has taken away the ceiling of the mandap. The original idols of Lord Vishnu with his consort Sridevi are left uncared in the open mandap. According to villagers, idols of Lord Vishnu, Boodevi and Sri Devi that are found inside the sanctum sanctorum were added later. The peepul tree has sent its roots deep into the wall damaging the temple further. 

The right side wall holds the history in bits and pieces in the form of inscriptions belonging to 12th century A.D. According to the inscriptions, the original name of the village is ‘Porpadevi Chathurvedi Mangalam, which was once a flourishing Brahminical settlement under the geographical division of Sengudi Naadu. 

The deity is known as ‘Puravu vari vinnakar.' Going by its name, probably, revenue officials might have had constructed the temple, says C.Shanthalingam, a retired Archaeological officer. 

Another inscription has information about the presence of ‘Brahminical sabha' that undertook welfare activities of the village and temple. Besides, the village had five water tanks namely – Periyakulam alias Vikaramapandya Pereri, Thirumalinsolai Pereri, Kumaranarayana Pereri, Govindaneri and Rajasingha Pereri. 

It also parts with information about the presence of Meenakshi Amman Endowment that constructed a ‘chatram' for the benefit of travelers in the middle of 16th century A.D. 

According to history, Vittalaraya, cousin of Sadasivaraya, a Vijayanagara ruler, marched towards south to subdue king of Travancore, who had been threatening Pandya chieftains. As Kallikudi was an important village, the king ordered a construction of a chatram, which is now in a dilapidated condition. 

The Shiva temple is known as Meenakshi Chokkanathar Temple. “Probably, this might be the impact of the main temple. A separate shrine was constructed for Goddess Meenakshi all over the Pandya country during this period” says Shanthalingam.

The temple remains intact with separate shrines for Goddess Meenakshi and Lord Shiva. Besides, the temple has the deities of Lord Vinayaka, Lord Shanmuga with his six faces sitting on a peacock, Lord Bairava and Lord Surya. The empty niches reflect the later Pandya architectural style. 

Surprisingly, the Shiva temple has a stucco figure on the northern wall resembling Lord Buddha or Lord Mahavira. “This figurine might be a saint doing penance in the yoga posture and do not rush to conclusions,” says Shanthalingam. 

The huge temple has only one inscription belonging to British period. It is a caution notice served by the then Collector of Madurai to Zamindar of Pavali, who ill treated the residents of Kallikudi. 

Now, P.Sundara Mahalingam and K.Pitchai Pandi maintain the Siva temple as a service. Pitchaipandi, 70, gives details about the temple history and festivals celebrated. “Except for special occasions, Brahmins hesitate to come to the temple as we could not pay them their salary,” says Sundara Mahalingam, who performs pujas regularly. ‘Anna abishekam' is performed on full-moon day during the Tamil month Aippasi besides the regular ‘prathosha' pujas.


Source - The Hindu

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