92Parthiban Rajukalidosspotentiality for future research (University Grants Commission approved 2014). The article isillustrated with photographic evidences and plans of the city and temples.Keywords: Spice Road, Periyakuḷam, Nāyakas, Vaṭakarai, zamīndāri, Ramabhadra Nayaka and successors, Rājēndracōlīśvaram, Bālasubrahmaṇya, Kailāsanātha, Mailaimēl-Vaidhyanātha, Varada-rājasvāmi, architecture, drāviḍa-vimāna, iconography, Vīrabhadra.Vaṭakarai means “northern bank” of a river and in case of the present study, it stands for the city that lay to the north of the river, Varākanati/Varāhanadī that flows from the Western Ghats; a tributary of Vaikai. Topographically the area is significant; the trade route that we may call “Spice Road” allowing passage to Kerala through the Kampam (slang Kumbam) passes. A vast stretch of land from Tiṇṭukkal (Anglicized Dindigul) or Koṭai/Kōṭai/Koḍai Road to Kampam passing through Gāndhigrāmam, Cempaṭṭi, Veṟṟilaikkuṇṭu/Vatta-lakkuṇṭu, Kaṅkavārpaṭṭi/Gaṅgavārpaṭṭi, Kāṭṭurōṭu2/Ghat-Road, Deva-dānappaṭṭi, Periyakuḷam, Lakṣmīpuram,3Tēṉi, Ciṉṉamaṉūr (of the famous Pāṇḍya Copper Plates of NeṭuñcaṭaiyaṉParāntaka 765-815 CE), Uttamapāḷaiyam, Tēvāram and Kūṭalūr lay forming a semi-circle on the way, covering about 90-120 kms. All places, excepting Tiṇṭukkal (pillow-stone) and Koḍai Road fall on the foothills of the Western Ghats.4Kūṭalūr (meeting-place, cf. the historical Kūḍal-2This word presents a strange phonetic variation of Ghat Road; ghat kāṭṭu(kāṭu“forest”) and road rōṭu. The Webster’s New Dictionary & Thesaurus, 171 (USA: Promotional Sales Books, 1995) says ghat is derived from Hindustani. However, in the Oxford English-Hindi Dictionary-Aṅreji-Hindi Śabdakośap. 435 (eds. S.K. Verma & R.N. Sahai, New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2003) no word equal to “ghat” is found; parvata or pahāḍ“mountain” appears. 3We have nostalgia for writing this article, being the land of our mother’s birth; keeping in mind Thomas Pain’s captive words: “My country is the world, and my religion is to do good”. Mrs. Bhuvanesvari Kalidos, our mother is a scholar in oral history. She feeds us with data not found in books. Her reminiscences methodized in a thesis got for Jeyapriya Rajarajan her doctoral degree (vide, note 48).4In geo-physical terms the Eastern and Western Ghats meet at Utakamaṇḍalam (Ang-licized Ooty). It then moves a single chain via the Paḻaṉi hills up to Kaṉyākumarī. Kerala lay on the hills, linking the Western Ghats with its extension beyond Utakamaṇḍalam. Access from Tamilnadu to Kerala is by way of Pālakkāṭṭu-kaṇavāy(Palghat pass), Mūṇāṟu (via Bōḍināyakkaṉūr), Kumuḻi (via Kambam), Ceṅkōṭṭai (Tirunelvēli zone) and Nākarkōyil in Kaṉyākumarī.
The Spice Road ‘Vaṭakarai Zamīndāri’93Śaṅgama) is on the gateway to Kerala from where the mountainous path begins, leading to Kumuḻi. On the peaks, the hill-cities of Koḍaikkāṉal, Tēkkaḍi, Kumuḻi and Mūṇāṟu/Muṇṇār (three rivers) are situated. Today Kumuḻi is the deadline between Tamilnadu and Kerala; formerly part of the Madras Presidency. Tēkkaḍi, away from Kumuḻi on the hills is in Kerala, a wild animals’ reserve. Koḍaikkāṉal a hill-resort is in Tamilnadu; the discovery and mostly work of the British collectors of Maturai where one may find remnants of colonial architecture; e.g. the Kohinūr Palace. One views an enchanting sight during the monsoon while moving this way either from Tiṇṭukkal and Koḍai Road (a rail station close to Maturai from Cheṉṉai) or even Maturai to Kumuḻi amidst a vast stretch of paddy fields, millets, and sugarcane and coconut groves. Otherwise, the way from Tiṇṭukkal to Vattalakkūṇṭu is parched during the summer. The land is watered by the tributaries of Vaikai; e.g. Mañjalāṟu (“Yellow River” with Silver Cascades, near Koḍaikkāṉal), Varāhanadī (flowing from Varāhamalai “Varāha Hill”), Pāmpāṟu (“Snake River” with a cascade, Kumpakkarai “brim of pitcher”), Mullai (close to Vīrapāṇḍi5), Periyāṟu (up above the hills in Ke-rala), Curuḷi (close toKampam with waterfalls), Kirutamāl (close to Maturai) and Kuṭavanāṟu (close to Tiṇṭukkal bound northward to meet the Kāviri). Varāhanadī and Pāmpāṟu find a confluence at the eastern edge of Periyakuḷam. All the way one may find dry rivulets cutting the highway. The venue of the study is Periyakuḷam (Map) that consists of two integral sections, called Vaṭakarai and Teṉkarai (southern bank).65It meets Vaikai on the hills and the Mullai-Periyāṟu Dam across the river was the dream-work of Colonel Pennycuic. It was designed to divert the excess water emptied in the Arabian Sea to help agriculture in the dry western Maturai district. The projects helped reform the criminal Kaḷḷaṉ(literally ‘robber”) and bring them under the rule of law, called “KallaṉReclamation”. Col. Pennycuick is a god to the people in the region. In recent times the Government of Kerala moves to demolish the Periyār Dam,creating a political turmoil. The British Governors-General and Governors left us 65 years ago. The good work done by them is nostalgically remembered today by many a patriot. These memoirs are erased from the pages of history. For example the portrait ofthe Prince of Wales and Divan BhadūrVeṅkaṭa Rāmabhadra Nāyaka were kept in the Victoria Memorial School of Periyakuḷam. Today the portraits have mysteriously disappeared. It may not be a wonder if the name of the school is altered in the name of a contemporary dādā-politician in future.6The city proper seems to have originated in Vaṭakarai and Teṉkarai grew with coming of the pāḷaiyakkārar(English polygar, pāḷaiyamcalled pollam) family of Vaṭakarai. The pāḷaiyamcreated by the Nāyakas, existed under English East India
94Parthiban RajukalidossThe colloquial city-name means “big-tank”, periya-kuḷam. Surrounded by mountain ranges, Varāhanadī flows in the heart of the flimsy city;7one may have a glamorous view of the Kōṭai Hills from here and during nights we find twinkling little stars, studded on the hills.8During monsoon a high waterfallplunging into an abyss from the summit of the hill is viewed, which is unreachable and empties its water in a small dam raised on Mañjalāṟu. One travelling in a motor-car at a high altitude finds this dam a tub amidst hills at the foot of the Kōṭai Hills. We are particularly interested in the present work because no historian thought of this vast strategic region while writing the histories of Pāṇḍyas and Nāyakas.9In view of this lacuna, the authors propose to undertaken a project in the long run on “Art and Archaeologyof the Upper Vaikai Bed”,10mainly to cover the temples on the upper reaches of the Vaikai River, west of Maturai. A number of Nāyaka and post-Nāyaka temples exist in the region that is totally “forgotten” (to aptly employ Robert Sewell’s word), excepting the Early Pāṇḍya structural temple at Ciṉṉamaṉūr of which T.S. Company down to the end of the eighteenth century. When liquidated, they were called zamīndār, holders of a zamīn“estate”. The pāḷaiyakkārarhad an army. The zamīndārs were deprived of it. The Vaṭakarai pāḷaiyakkārarseem to have stood on the side of the British during the later eighteenth century “polygar wars” and were left unmolested.7People are nostalgic of a proverb: iṅkiṭṭum aṅkiṭṭum ūru, naṭuvila āṟu, añcu tēru vantu pāru“city to this side and that side, river in the middle, five temple cars, come and see”. Vide, Jeyapriya Rajarajan, Rare Images in the Iconographic Profile of Nāyaka Art, Annali dell’ Istituto Universitario Orientale Napoli, 69/1-4, (2009 in press).8Koḍaikkāṉal is today the venue of an observatory, the Mother Teresa Women’s University and the oldest Archive and Library of the Jesuit Fathers. It accommodates several English schools of the yester aristocratic tradition. R.K.K. Rajarajan and his brother R.K. Vijaya Raghavan were schooled here for some time. Alas! Raghavan is no more today: We dedicate this small piece of literature to Vijaya RaghavanNaiḍugāru.9K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, The Pāṇḍyan Kingdom(Madras: Swathi Publications, 1972 [first ed. 1929]); R. Sathyanathaier, History of the Nayaks of Madura(Madras: 1914). Raju Kalidos 1989 listed and studied the temple cars in this region (vide, note 31).10We hope to organize an international conference in this connection, inviting few experts from England, Italy and Germany. R.K.K. Rajarajan is on the research faculty of the Gandhigram Rural University. R.K. Parthiban completed his Masters in the Brandenburg Technological University, Cottbus and is Director of the Cheran School of Architecture, K. Paramathy (Karūr).
The Spice Road ‘Vaṭakarai Zamīndāri’99The kaḷḷaṉcaste plays a leading role in the wretched contemporary politics.28The part played by the zamīndārs down to the time of Divān BahadūrVeṅkaṭa Rāmabhadra Nāyaka is shrouded in legends. A. Vadivelu (1915: 679-688a see note 22) presents a summary that finds no inscriptional support. He did not even consult the inscriptions that were tapped in the temples around 1907, which perhaps were notavailable for his research. These were later reported in the Madras Annual Epigraphical Reports(ARE infra). The events chronicled by the author may brief as follows:Rāmabhadra Nāyaka followed Nāgama Nāyaka from Vijayanagara to suppress a rebellion in Maturai. It was reported to the Vijayanagara Emperor Nāgama Nāyaka had plans to form his independent domain in Maturai.Nāgama was advised by Rāmabhadra Nāyaka to surrender to his son, Viśvanātha sent by the Emperor to imprison the rebel.Rāmabhadra Nāyaka was to begin with appointed Military Commander and Revenue collector of Maturai.It seems some problem arose in the Kampam area which Rāmabhadra restrained; maybe revolt of Tiruvitāṅkōṭu rulers in Kerala. It was primarily due to this reason that the Vaṭakarai pāḷaiyamwas organized; added to it was the fertility of the region.In view of its strategic importance as gateway to Kerala, Rāmabhadra was appointed pāḷaiyakkārarof Vaṭakarai.During the British heyday a railroad from Bōḍi to Maturai was laid mainly to transport spices from the hills to the plains and thereby activate export. The spice country road now became spice railroad. This encouraged the laying of metal roads and transport through locomotives by giving up bullock-cartsand horses.The temple for Śiva existed at that time at the western fringe of the village; further west within close proximity the Ghats stand.Mañchi Nāyaka II cleared the forests and promoted agriculture, a pioneer in agrarian operations and today we find the outskirts of 28The kaḷḷaṉs by ethos were opportunist. They pretend to be obedient as long as they serve a master. When power comes, it corrupts them absolutely. They are “good servants but bad masters”. Vide, Edgar Thurston, Castes and Tribes of Southern India(Madras: Government Press, 1908), 8 vols, see under Kaḷḷaṉand Maṟavaṉ.
100Parthiban Rajukalidossthe city full of paddy fields, coconut plantations and mango groves.Mañchi Nāyaka demonstrated his martial skill by shooting an arrow to cross over the teppakkuḷamin Maturai, a 300 yards square.29When Caṭaiyakka Tēvar, the Setupati ofRāmanāthapuram rose against the Nāyaka, an army marched against him under DalavāyRāmappaiyaṉ(told in a ballad called Ramappaiyaṉ-ammāṉai) and Mañchi Nāyaka. His valorous deeds terrified the kallaṉs to such an effect that they were alarmed on hearing Mañchi’s name.Kumāra Rāmabhadra Nāyaka is said to have erected a maṇḍapain the Śiva temple at Periyakuḷam.Mīnāyasvāmi Rāmabhadra Nāyaka gave liberal gifts to the Varadarājasvāmi temple.30Veṅkaṭa Rāmabhadra Nāyaka in the late nineteenth century was a noted Sanskrit scholar and associated with the following benevolent works:Foundation of the Victoria Memorial High School and a Model Primary SchoolPatronage of the Madura College, MaturaiIntroduction of scientific water works under the inspiration of Col. PennycuickMember of the Legislative Council, MadrasMember of the Council of State, DelhiLeader of the zamīndārs of the Maturai district The Kumāra Zamīndārs of Vaṭakarai and Kurupam were pages to Lord T.D. Gibson-Carmichael 1911-12 (Fig. 11)Chairman, Periyakuḷam Municipal CouncilPatronage of the MalaimēlVaidhyanāthasvāmi templeMember of the Rāmeśvaram DevasthānamCommitteeInstituted a Gold Medal for the first-come MB & BS student, University of MadrasFoundation of the Public Library in Periyakuḷam29According to the Tiruppaṇimālaithis tank was the work of Tirumalai Nāyaka. Vide, R.K.K. Rajarajan, Vijayanagara-Nāyakas, I, 26.30Mīṉāyasvāmimeans “Lord who is the Fish”, i.e. Matsyāvatāraof Viṣṇu; a rare personal name of a ruler after Matsya(Tamil Mīṉin Periyāḻvār’s Tirumoḻi1.6.11, 3.3.7). Mīṉis the root of Minākṣi (one with fish-like eyes).
The Spice Road ‘Vaṭakarai Zamīndāri’101Built a Public Hospital, named after the Prince of Wales that was acknowledged by His Majesty a letter dated 21stFebruary 1922Founder of the Balija Sabhā31The British Government conferred on him the honorary titles of Rao Bahadūr1908 and later Divān BahadūrStood with the Empire during the First World War and donated funds collected from the zaminfor War Fund at the request of Hardinge II (1910-16),He was one among the chief dignitaries to receive when the Prince of Wales visited Madras in 1922 (Vadivelu 1915: 679–88a).The rājas of Anegoṇḍi used to send them gifts on occasions of marriage in the Vaṭakarai zamīnfamily that continued down to the time of Nāgama Rāmabhadra Nāyaka (Vadivelu 1915: 688a). This is to establish their affinity with the Vijayanagara royal family through the ages.Koṇḍama Rāmabhadra Nāyaka was educated in the Madras Presidency College that was meant for the princes of those times, a dignity that the zamīndārs wanted to keep abreast of the aristocratic tradition of the British.32Besides, thezamīndārs as custodians of their fiefdom must have stood behind the Ghat Road laid to reach Koḍaikkāṉal and development of its township under British inspiration. The making of Kumpakkarai as artificial waterfalls seems to be their handwork.The data bearing on Veṅkaṭa Rāmabhadra Nāyaka is ample because when A. Vadivelu started compiling his book (see note 22), the officiating Nāyaka must have been his contemporary. The zamīndār’s son Nāgama Rāmabhadra Nāyaka was Lieutenant in the Eleventh Battalion, Third Madras Regiment of the Indian Territorial Force and 31It stands in support of the view that the Nāyaka families of Maturai and Periyakuḷam belonged to the Balijagroup Nāyakas. The Nāyakas consisted of septs such as GavaraorBalija(Maturai Nāyakas), Kamma(Ilaiyātaṅkal and Kuruvikuḷam zamins), Toṭṭiyaor Kambalam(Kaṭṭabommaṉ), Velamaand so on. The Balijas were of the kṣatriyacadre.32A. Vadivelu, Ruling Chiefs, 688. For a case study of how the zamīndārs loved western education see Pamela G. Price, Warrior Caste ‘Raja’ and Gentleman ‘Zamindar’: One Person’s Experience in the Late Nineteenth Century, Modern Asian Studies, 17/4 (1983), 566-70 (563–90).