tondai nadu Even the flowers in the jungle are connected with our history. During February and March the beautiful pink and white flowers of the aathondai or thondai creepers (Capparis The region of thondai nadu derives its name from this flower from which garlands of the famous Pallava kings were made.
palar river in southern India. It rises near the Ponnaiyar River, southwest of Chintamani, in Karnataka state, and flows 183 miles (295 km) southeastward through Tamil Nadu state to the Bay of Bengal, south of Madras.
MADURANTAKAM It was known during the Chola and Pallava rule as Madhurantaka Chathurvedi Mangalam, perhaps named after the Chola king Madurantaka. The Aeri Katha Ramar temple It was here under a Maghizha tree that Periya Nambi performed Pancha Samskarams thapa, nama, pundra, manthra and yaga to Saint Ramanuja. a separate shrine for Goddess Sita, known as Janakavalli Thayar, exists. has an interesting story behind it. Built by an English Collector, Colonel Lionel Place (referred to as Price in the Government records), in 1884, he visited the tank bund and saw Rama and Lakshmana keeping guard at the tank. Indha dharmam kumpini jagir Collector Lionel Place durai, avargaladhu says the kalvettu
ACHIRUPAKKAM (3 FORTS DETAILS) shiva on the route to Tripurasamhaaram went without praying to ganesha and his axle broke. achu iru- pakkam A Pandya ruler's axle is also said to have broken here as he was bringing soil from the Ganges to dam a local river. Hence Achu Iru Paakkam inscriptions from the period of Raja Raja Chola II.
mailam The Subramanyar Temple at Mayilam Legend has it that the demon Soorapadman destroyed by Skanda, assumed the forms of a peacock and a rooster and remained in the service of Skanda. In the form of a peacock, he performed severe penances towards Skanda here and hence this place took on the name Mayilam.
TIRUVAKKARAI - VILLAKKU temple built by sembiyan madevi The village of Thiruvakkarai is situated on the northern bank of the river Sankarabarani also known in olden days as the Varaha Nadhi The inscriptions on the temple reveal that the Rajagopuram was named after 'Kandar Suriyan Sambuvarayan' who was responsible for its construction. The inscriptions of the 16th year of rule by Kulothunga Chola-III, are here
In front of this vakra kali shrine one can find the granite idols of two girls with their attractive hairstyle associated with 'Gandhara school of Art' (the Indo-Greek School of art, the specimens of which are very rarely found in South India). the Goddess is wearing prethakundalam (ghost earring) and in the left ear a 'bhadra kundalam' (noble earring). The garland of human skulls is three-dimensional and can be seen from the backside also sembiyan madevi is associated with thirupani in this temple nadaraja in a vakra thandavam,
ENNAYIRAM VILAKKU a flourishing educational centre during the Chola period. Ennairam is a pilgrimage centre famous for the Alagiya Narasingaperumal Temple, where a long Tamil inscription, 1000 years old, was found in 2003. The word Ennairam means 8000 in Tamil, and the place was called so because 8000 Jains are believed to have been executed here. Tamil poet, Kalamegam, famous for his puns, belonged to Ennairam. longest "meikeerthi" (various titles and exploits) of a Chola king. The inscription actually runs to 80 lines, but lines one to 53 are yet to be located. ( so says a hindu article) Raja Raja Chaturvedimangalam and that it was a "thaniyur" (independent village) directly coming under the control of the king