Ennayiram, Villupuram
Ennayiram is a village in Vikravandi taluk in Villupuram district
in the Indian state of Tamil
Nadu. The major occupation of the people living at this
place is agriculture.
Etymology
Ennayiram means eight thousand in Tamil. An inscription dated 1025 CE, belongs to the Rajaraja
Chola mentions the name
"Ennayiram". Hence the name "Ennayiram" is 1000 years old.
It also refers to the caste name of Jain merchants. It has close connection with Ashtasahasram, a sub sect of Tamil Iyer community.
General Information
·
Name of the Place =
Ennayiram
·
Taluk = Vikravandi
·
District = Villupuram
·
State = Tamil Nadu
·
Country = India
·
Coordinates =
12°7'28"N 79°29'31"E
·
Area = 1 km2
·
Population = 1000 (2011)
Location
Ennayiram is located 20 km north of Villupuram, 16 km southeast of Gingee.
Village
Ennayiram village has more than 1000 year’s old
heritage. This village was a city during the Rajaraja
Chola I period. It was
dominated by Jains before the arrival of Ramanuja. It is also believed that Saint Ramanuja had converted eight thousand Jains to Vaishnavites here.
It was called Rajaraja Sathuurvedimangalam in those
times. The main importance of this village comes from Azhagiya Narasimha
Perumal temple, a Vedic college and Ennayira malai which contains evidence for
the past existence of Jain monks. Tamil poet Kalamegam was born in this
village.
Azhagiya Narasimha Perumal Temple
This temple was built by Rajaraja Chola and Narasimha
Perumal was considered as the family deity of Rajaraja Chola. For brief
details, please refer the link below;
Existence of ancient Vedic College
The Vedic College functioned with 10 teachers and 340
students 800 years ago. The college provided free boarding to students and each
student received one seer
(unit) of rice per day
which was sufficient for their daily meals. The teachers got a daily allowance
of one kalam which was equivalent to the cost of food for 16 persons
per day. They were also given half kalanju gold as bonus per year.
Ennayira Malai (Ancient Jain cave, beds &
inscriptions)
Another attractive feature of this village is the
presence of Ennayira malai or Ennayiram hill with Jain cave and beds, which is
now called as Koodalur hill. For brief details, please refer the link below;
Connectivity
Town buses from Villupuram town bus stand (bus no: 20, 21) to Pidaripattu go
through Ennayiram. Otherwise, one can alight at Nemur Koot road bus stop (all
mofussil buses going from Villupuram to Gingee has a stop in
this place) and can take shared auto from this place to Ennayiram.