Solesvaran Temple, Aragalur, Salem
This
temple gives the old name for the village as 'Thayinum Nalla Chozhisvaram'. Geographical
position of this temple is 11.562002°N
78.787401°E. The temple is
constructed using Granite stones with no mortar. Locals believe that this
was constructed by/in honor of Kulothunga Chola III. In 2007, volunteers have cleared the vegetation over
growth on the roof of this temple. This is a dilapidated Siva temple in a small
village Aragalur ("six moat place") is a village in Salem
district.
It is
about 6 km from Thalaivasal and 70 km from Salem. Aragalur was the
capital of Magadai Mandalam ruled by the well-known Bana Chieftains around 1190-1260 CE. Aragalurudaiya
Ponparappinan Rajarajadevan alias Magadesan was the greatest in this dynasty.
There
are many inscriptions surrounding the Adhishtana. This would give loads of
information about this place and the temple if deciphered. Not sure whether
this is recorded anywhere in our government records. There is a Nandi in a
separate Mandapa in front of the temple.
There is
another small temple for the goddess adjacent to the Solesvaran temple and the
construction is similar to the main temple. Locals believe that this was
constructed by/in honor of Kulothunga Chola III. The temple is covered with a
lot of vegetation and is being used as a dump yard for the cattle and its feed.
It was
really painful to see the temple kept in such a pathetic condition. A water
tank had been built in front of the temple by the local authorities blinding the
view of the adjacent Devi shrine. This temple needs immediate attention. Most
of the temple surroundings have been occupied by locals and not cared for its wellbeing.