Trichy Tours

About Trichy

Samayapuram Mariamma :
Samayapuram, lying at a distance of 11 km from Trichy in Lalgudi taluk, is famous for the shrine of Mariamman, which Goddess has a rich legendary and historical background.

The Trichi temple has three enclosures and faces east in the centre of the village. The first prakara is quite big and has shrines of Muruga, Rajagoipalaswamy and Bhojeswara. In the second enclosure are found the two Pournami mandapa Vasantha mandapa and Bhaktiyula mandapa. The third enclosure is small and is around the sanctum.

The presiding deity of this temple is Mariamman, who is looked upon as one of the form of Kali. The world Mariamman is said to have been derived from two words, Mari and Amman, which respectively mean rain and goddess. The word Mariamman denotes that this Goddess is a giver of rain and reliever of all famines and pestilences for humanity.

There are three legends associated with the origin of Kali. The first of these refers to Daruka Asura. Intoxicated with this unparalleled strength, Daruka committed many atrocities and harassed the pious and religious. Finally, Lord Shiva was approached to put an end to the asura. Since Daruka had a special boon that meant he could not be killed by any man, Lord Shiva created a female form out of the poison kalakoodam from his neck, from which the name Kali was derived. This female form came out through his third eye, and killed Daruka.

Architecture wise, the temple is not very impressive. But it has a number of inscriptions in the surrounding temples of Bhojeswara and Mutheeswara, which throw light not only on the history of the Mariamman temple but on Samayapuram village too. In the inscriptions, Samayapuram is referred to as Vikaramapuram and Kannanur. The southern wall of the Bhojeswara temple carries the inscription of the Hoysala king Vira Ramanatha, son of Veera Someswara, who won the title Moon of the Carnatic. The utsava idol of Samayapuram Mariamman is said to have been in the hands of the Hoysala kings first and then gone to the Vijayanagara kings, who worshipped it as their family deity. With the decline of the Vijayanagara kingdom, it was brought to its present place in a special ivory palanquin and installed. Later, a temple was constructed around it by a famous Nayak king, Vijayanagara, Chokkanatha (1706-1732 A.D) All abhishekams are performed only to the utsava idol. Avail for Trichy Tours

Struggling To Stay Lit :
(Cigar Industry of Tirchi )
A part from its historical importance of having been the capital of the Chola dynasty, Woraiyur in Trichy is also famous for its handmade cigars and handloom sarees. The handmade cigars of Woraiyur were said to be famous overseas, so much so that even Winston Churchill is said to have relished them though he remained loyal to the Cuban cigars.

The industry, which had put Woraiyur on the international map, through its exports is now on the brink of extinction. The cottage industry, which flourished since the early 20th century, especially between the two World Wars, provided direct employment to over 1,500 skilled labourers until a few decades ago. Over 200 units were engaged in producing the cigars, but the number has dwindled to a handful now.

The total annual output, which was about 20 Lakh cigars, has fallen drastically with only a handful of ageing cigar rollers engaged in the job. The process of making cigars starts with the selection of tobacco, which is first softened by fermentation using molasses, jaggery, toddy and coconut water.

The dried tobacco is later rolled into fillers and binders. The filler is cut by hand according to the length and diameter of the cigar it is intended for, and then rolled in the wrapper leaf. The wrapper is polished and the cigars are wrapped in cellophane before being packed into wooden boxes or packets of fives, tens, 25s and 50s.

Though the product is still said to have good export potential, the industry has been unable to tap it for non-availability of quality tobacco leaves, lack of skilled manpower, resource crunch, poor packaging and marketing. Exports have completely stopped though the industry had once shipped consignments as far as the U.S., the U.K., and other African and Gulf countries.

M.Arumugam, who has been rolling cigars for the last 50 years, laments that he hardly gets employment for 10 days a month as he is called for work only when his employer gets orders from traders in North India. The main raw material, vellai vazhai, was grown and supplied from Aravakurichi and its surrounding villages in Karur district until a few years ago. However, owing to continued drought the local farmers have switched to drumstick and other cash crops, leaving the tobacco industry high and dry.

The only other source for this particular variety of tobacco is Dinhatta in Cooch Behar district in West Bengal, which is beyond the reach of the cottage industry owing to high transport cost. The Trichy Woraiyur Double Wrapped Cigar Manufacturers Association president, M. Natarajan, who has been waging a lone battle for revival of the industry, says only the entry of multinationals and big tobacco industries could revive it. Besides, the Tobacco Board should arrange for raw material and marketing tie-ups. The recent levy of 16 percent CENVAT on cigars has also come as a big below to the industry, and Mr. Natarajan has planned to represent the industries cause to the sub-committee of the Commerce department in Chennai shortly.

Repository of Rare Chola Inscriptions :
Located amidst lush green paddy fields and sylvan surrounding on the northern banks of the Uyyakondan channel in a sleepy hamlet named Cholamadevi near Thiruverumbur, 12 km away from Trichy City, stands a dilapidated temple. But for a trained eye, the historical importance of its majestic ruins would go unnoticed.

The fact that the Kailasamudaiyar Temple, dating back to the 11th Century (1065 A.D.) is a virtual treasurehouse of historic information is a relatively recent discovery. A chance discovery of some inscriptions belonging to the Chola period by a team of archaeologists led by Mr. K. Sridharan, Registering Officer, State Department of Archaeology, Trichy, has brought the temple into the limelight among indologists.

For the adhistana and the walls of the temple are fully covered with inscriptions belonging to the periods of Raja Raja Chola I. Rajendra Chola I and Vira Rajendra Chola I. A majority of the inscriptions belong to Raja Raja I.

Further, the inscriptions contain the earliest known reference to Sankara Bhashyam, a commentary on Sankaras philosophy, written by Chidaananda Bhattaara. Though there are over a hundred commentaries on Sankara Bhashyam, the Chidaanandas Pradeepaka mentioned in this inscription is not found in any ancient manuscript or text. The inscription is in Tamil with a few Sanskrit words in between written in Grantha characters.

The inscription reveal that the village was known as Tenkarai Brahmadeyam Sri Cholamadevi Chaturvedimangalam. But from 19th century onwards the hamlet has been referred to as Pandya Kulasani Valanattu Brahmadeyam Sri Cholamadevi Chaturvedimangalam. The God is referred to as Sri Kailayamudaiyar and Sri Kailasathu Parameswarar.
Another inscription speaks about the gram sabha regulations and the period of office each member could hold. It also refers to the existence of a Uyyakondan Attruvariyam, a separate body which has monitored and directed the diversion of the water from the Uyyakondan channel for irrigation to the surrounding villages.

Apart from the importance of the inscription, the temple itself is rated as an architectural marvel and built as per specifications of the Silpa Shasthra. The Siva temple consists of a central shrine, ardha and Mahamandapas. The presiding deity, the Linga has a square base. The four-pillared ardhamandapa has exquisite in the front. Two dwarapala sculpture aborn the entrance of the ardhamandapa.

The south-facing Devi shrine in the Mahamandapa was said to have been completely destroyed and was later reconstructed by the Nayakkars in the 17th century. The two-tier vimana has a hollow base atop which stands the dome shaped second tier.

A unique feature of the temple is the innumerable panel sculptures on almost every stone, which has gone into its construction. Among the most eye catching carving are an image of Bhikshatana, a figure of a lady holding a ladle and a row of pots, Ganesha, Dakshinamurthy and a sculpture of Krishna caught in the act of stealing butter.

Archaeologists consider the temple to be an excellent illustration of the architectural evolution of the early Chola period. The temple has been saved from complete disintegration, thanks to the initiative of a dedicated team of officials from the Archaeology Department led by Mr. Nadana Kasinathan, Director, and Archaeology.

Two years ago, the government sanctioned Rs. One lakh grant for the restoration of the temple. But the restoration work has been left half-way, due to lack of funds. A major portion of the temple had to be reconstructed, stone by stone involving painstaking, laborious and expensive work.

The local panchayat has laid a road and has breathed fresh life to the temple, which has been forsaken for many decades.