Thyagaraja Temple, Thiruvottriyur – History
The
temple has been in existence from the Pallava times of 7th century and widely
expanded by Chola kings during the 11th century. The temple draws parallel with
the Thyagaraja temple in Tiruvarur as both the temples were expanded by
Rajendra Chola I and both have the same dance poses of Lord Shiva. The temple
was originally built by Pallavas and later rebuilt by Rajendra Chola I. The
temple was the centre of learning, with the halls inside the temple acting as
venue for religious discourses in subjects like vyakarna (translation), Somasiddantha (philosophy)
and Panini's grammar. There was a hermitage attached to the temple during 9th
century, presided over by Caturananas Pandithar.
The
temple also had philosophical discourses and expositions on grammar. Lands were
granted to learned scholars and their generation like Vedavritti, Bhattavriti, Vaidyavritti and Archanavritti.
There are references to recital of Prabhakara, Rudra, Yamala, Purana,
Sivadharma, Panchanga & Bharata. There are several inscriptions inside the
temple dating back to Pallava period. Shankaracharya,
the 8th century scholar in the advaita school of Hinduism is believed to have visited the temple to put down
the power of evil. The temple was originally built by Pallavas and later rebuilt by Rajendra
Chola I.
The
inscription dating 954 CE, the fifth year of the Chola king Gandaraditya indicates 90 sheep for burning lamps
and ilavilaku, a lamp made in Sri
Lanka). The inscriptions dating from
1046 CE reveal that 64 bronze Nayanmar statues were installed in the temple. There
were equal number of dancing girls called Devadasi in the temple, who were divided into two groups –
the vala kai dasis danced for Thyagaraja, while the idangai dasis danced
for Vadivudaiammai.
During
the reign of the Malik Kafur, much
of the temple was destroyed and the bronze idols present now in the temple were
installed during the Vijayanagara period of 15th century. A 13th-century inscription
indicates the practise of animal sacrifice to the goddess, which continued
along with offering intoxicating drink till the early 2000s. Famous saints
like Pattinathar,
Topeswamigal and Ramalinga Swamigal lived in this town and prayed Thyagaraja in
this temple. This place is also home to Thiruvottriyur Thyagesar who is a Carnatic
composer and poet.
The
temple was the home of the Hindu saint Pattinathar and the location where he attained Samadhi in the form of a lingam. It is the birthplace of Kaliya
Nayanar, one of the 63 Nayanmars. This temple of yore finds a definitive place in Tamil
Saivite history as this is the place where the Marriage of Gnanasambandhar was
supposed to happen but concluded in Gnanasambandhar being absorbed with several
others into the Jyothi before the marriage could be solemnized.
The
Carnatic composer Thyagaraja visited this temple and composed the
Thiruvottiyur Pancharatna or 5 Gems in praise of the Goddess Tripurasundari. Thiruvotriyur
Mummanikovai is a work in praise of the deity in the temple. Thiruvotriyur
Anthathi is a 19th-century work by Gnanasampathavaran in praise of the
deity of the temple. Thiruvotriyur Moovar Tamil is an extract of Thevaram
specific to the temple.
Thiruvotriyur
Nadana Sarithram is a historic depiction of dance in the temple. Vadivudaiampal
Asiriyavirutham by Rama Mudaliar, Vadivudai Amman Kummipadal, Vadivudaiamman
Navarattinam & Vadivudaiamman Panssarathinam by Kanniappa
Uvattiyayar are 19th century works glorifying Vadivudaiamman, the prime consort
of the primary deity of the temple. The 19th century Saint Shri
Ramalinga Adigalar was a daily visitor to this temple during his younger days
and has sung many poems in praise of this Lord. The other important Saint
associated with this temple is Shri Topeswamy.
Temple Administration:
During
1786 to 1831 CE, there were frequent clashes between the right-hand castes
comprising handicraft people and poor and the left-hand castes comprising
wealthy and parsimonious merchants. It was the practice of British
administrators to bestow the office of chief administrator of the temple to
rich merchants. Following the custom, Lingi Chetti headed from 1754 CE, and
after his death, his family inherited the post. The right-hand caste people
were highly irritated that the post was inherited by the left-hand caste. In
August 1786, the left-hand caste submitted a petition to the Governor and the
council of Fort St. George claiming the right-hand caste had no right over the
administration of the temple and were indulged in attack of one of the
left-hand person.
The
English sidestepped by ruling that both had liberty to perform their ceremonies
according to the respective customs. It was also announced that the heads of
each would be responsible for offenders. While the left-hand caste abided by
the order, the right-hand caste stopped their practices. There were
intermittent clashes initiated by both the parties and once resulted in
attacking the sepoys involved in protection. The dissension cropped once
more during 1828 when the officiating priest complained about the chief
administrator.
In 1831,
there were renewed complaints against the chief administrator over the
authority of dancing girls and his right in administering the temple stating
financial irregularity. The dancing girls were immediately removed from the
temple. The collector upheld the action against the dancing girls and ruled
that Arunachala Chetti of the left-hand would be the rightful administrator of
the temple. It also suggested to the right-hand caste that no complaints would
be entertained unless specific instances were shown where the right-hand moved
away from customs.
