Kodumpalur (கொடும்பாளூர்)

This is a journey in search of the unearthed stories of our great Tamil kings who mingled with the soil and lived with dignity thousands of years ago .The first part is our trip to Kodumbalur.   Kodumbalur village is situated some 3-4Km from the four-lane road from Madurai to Trichy, and if you turn right 40 kilometers before Trichy, you can reach the town at a distance of three kilometers.  It is a beautiful little village. Kodumbalur just looks like a typical village,with cottages like huts and concrete buildings ,cowsheds and sewage flowing on the streets. When we went there, we couldn’t believe that this town was once a very important small kingdom of the Cholas, standing on the side of the Chola emperors and guarding the border. Great warriors emerged from this village who were also a key pillar of the Chola empire.

Princess Veeramadevi of this town was the wife of Rajendra Chola. She is also the one who sacrificed her life by climbing Udengatta after the death of her husband Rajendra Cholan. Apart from that, the people from this Kodumbalur village have been army commanders and their kings had close marriage alliance with the Cholas. There is also a history that one Chola Princess was married to a Kodumbalur prince named Ilango.

I got interested in Kodumbalur when I first read about this Kodumbalur in the novel Vengai’s Maindan. It can also be said that the novel created a desire in me to know more deeply about the Cholas.

Although this is a fictional story, it is 50% true. That’s why  I have been trying for many years to visit Kodumbalur in person. Due to lack of time and due to work, I was not able to see it then. In the end, I decided to write about the Cholas and my brother and I went to Kodumbalur for a five-day trip.

From there I went to Thanjavur , Gangaikonda Cholapuram , Darasuram and many other places and learned countless things about the Cholas.  The journey started in Kodumbalur.

I don’t know if there is any connection between me and that town ? Perhaps because of reading historical novels such as “Thenatu Porkalangal” and Vengai’s Maindan, does such a feeling appear ? There is some sort of close belonging to this village, many things I saw there seems like I had  been there before, maybe in my past life.I have since then visited this place some four times

When I first went to search for the town, the route to the town did not show correctly on the internet.We then stopped at a roadside coffee shop and asked for directions, he asked us to go down further straight ahead and the name will appear.We then reached the village he directed but could see no sign of the temple.Being a historical site we expected to see some clear directions and path to the temple,but there was none.We again asked one of the villager about the temples and he showed us a small path, which can take only one car at a time, we were surprised on such a sorry state of the road to the temple. We started driving through the narrow path and soon we could see the tower of the temples emerging.We parked the vehicle.The temples were not large, but stood out elegantly and looked beautiful in the morning sun.

The temple has also been reconstructed by the Central Archaeological Survey. It was also seen that all the places under the control of the Central Archaeological Survey are kept very clean and beautiful.They charge a small fee to enter. There are no restrictions on going inside and taking pictures. Most temples in Tamil Nadu do not allow photography but those historical temples under the Central Archaeological Department Photography is allowed.  There are no bans or restrictions on photography in many temples, including the Tanjore Great Temple, which is under the control of the Department of Archaeology. Ten years ago they used to charge Rs 500 for taking pictures on camera. But now that situation has changed.

The temples in Kodumbalur are small temples and not as grand as the big temples in Tanjore. All the temples built by the feudal kings during that time were smaller in size than the ones built by the emperors. I think they built smaller temples for fear of incurring their wrath if they built bigger than the emperors.

All the Cholas followed Shaivism and they worshiped Shivalinga. So the feudal kings under them were also worshiping Shiva. But the temples were so dilapidated that only two towers were reconstructed by the archeology department taking it stone by stone. Everything else is just historical remains of bricks,pillars,statues etc. Could have done better with a little more effort.

Because Kodumbalur is the same except for these two towers  A few more temples under the control of the Archeology Department built during this period also have inscriptions and a thorn raft lying in front of the temple.  Left uncorrected and orphaned to this day.

I don’t know what the reason is.It would be good if this also gets a little attention and renovation.

About this Kodumbalur small town  If you go to my Gellary Section , I have explained it in detail from the first page.

Regarding Kodumbalur, what is its history with the people there ? When and by whom was it built ? They don’t know anything when asking such historical questions. However, I liked the way they treated us.

Neither the people there nor the archeology department officers working there know anything about it in detail. There is no mention of it to the historians who come there. Simply charging  They do it as a duty.  Only the opinions of the researchers are listened to and recorded.

Among the temples there is a large Nandi or Amman like the one in the Tanjore temple  No. In contrast there is a Shivlingam and small beautiful Nandis. It is not known whether the idols also existed before or are now being placed. But there is no sign of lighted worship in both the temples. The archaeological site is full of archaeological traces that have been explored  A historical context  It presents itself as a place.

There are many ancient statues in it. For example, the lower part of the building is surrounded by statues of dancing women, each beautifully carved. I don’t remember seeing these dancing women statues in Tanjore. I will look into this next time I go there. The faces of dancing women in it   Each one is beautifully and wonderfully carved differently.

Even though I have been to Kodumbalur thrice so far, it is a place to learn new things. Not only that, but the idols like the procession of Yazhis around the temple walls are very elegant  have designed But I don’t know what the reason is, they have carvings of turtles with their mouths split open at the four corners of the temple.

The reason why turtle sculptures are kept there  I do not know.  Did they put it like that for Vastu ? Or is there any other reason ? I don’t know how to fix it. I will investigate this also on the next trip and let you know why.

But during the Cholas period they invaded across the sea  Cross the sea there  Tortoises also played a major role in trade. Using their channels and currents, the Cholas went there with hundreds of ships  Indonesia , Singapore , Thailand , Cambodia , Vietnam  They reached the borders of the country and brought many empires like Sri Vijayam under their rule. Maybe that’s why they set up turtle sculptures in temples ? Do not know.

Pearls are beautifully carved into small torans on each pillar. Looking at it one could feel the skills of Chola sculptors very beautifully. At the entrance of the temple, the statue of Dwarpalakas was carved in a small form.

All the temples there were small. When you go inside the temple, you will see the interior of the temple tower  It gradually became a pyramid-like structure with three layers. When viewed from the top of the tower, the idol of Shiva and Parvati is sitting side by side in a very beautiful way.

There were many idols like the base of the former Shiva Lingam in  the temple. I think it was customary after war during that period, that after the death of warriors or princes, there was a system of placing Shiva Lingam in their memory in temple premises.

In the temple only the pit is visible but there is no Shivalinga, except one small sivalinga in one of the standing tamples. It also has an altar decorated with lotus leaves. I have seen pit like structure like this in Thailand. When I happen to visit a place there, there are traces of Shivalinga worship as there are footprints of the Cholas there too. Although there is no Shivalingam, the foundation for it is still there.

I will visit Phimai and Ankor Wat again in Thailand and will give more details about these two temples in future.

When i was working in China for five year, whenever i went to historical sites they always had in detail books,CD and notice boards detailing the place of interest.Thus it was easy for visitors to understand and appreciate the historical importance.To any The information was bilingual both in English and Chinese for Locals. . As far as India is concerned, there are no such facilities when we visit historical monument.Lack of knowledge by the staff maintaining these places is also of concern.I hope the government in future will set up information kiosks for visitors.. This is just the beginning of the first page and we will see you in the following days as a series of stories on my tour of the Kodumpalur Temples.