R. Nagaswamy
Utaramerur
Introduction
Utaramerur, called by various names as Uttarameru caturvedimangalam, Rajsndrachola caturvedimangalam, Vijayagaṇdagopala caturvedimangalam, Vadameru mangai, Uttaramelur, Pāṇḍvavana, and Pancavarada kshetra, was first established by the Pallava ruler Nandivarman II, around 750 AD as a great village. It was gifted to one thousand two hundred Vedic Brahmins, of the Vaishnava tradition, and was called "Uttarameru caturvedimangalam". It did exist as a small village much earlier, from pre Christian era, as witnessed by a few megalithic burials, in and around the village.
Utaramerur, is now a fairly large village that has attracted historians on account of two important inscriptions dated in the early years of Parāntaka Chola, in the first quarter of the 10th century AD, detailing the process of election to the village assemblies and giving a peep into the constitution of rural democracy, in early Tamilnād. It furnishes other fascinating information too, with reference to the religious life of the people, especially the role of the agamās, temple treatises. Starting as a Brahmana Scholastic village it continued to retain its character till about the 13th cent. In fact it continued as a Brahmin settlement in the 9th and 11th cent when under the Cholas it came to be established as a new Brahmin colony receiving new name after the ruling monarch. Obviously the new colonies were settled in different quarters of the village. From about the 13th cent its character seems to have undergone a change with the Brahmin population showing a decline. Some of the adjoining hamlets became the strong holds of Vedic Brahmins and Vaishnavites. The Vanniya kula kshatriyas belonging to land holding Warrior elass gradually became the major population of the village and its suburbs. Muslim population got itself established in a small Way around the 17th cent under the Nawabs of Carnatic.
On the four sides of this village are the four towns Kāñcīpuram in the North, Madurāntakam in the South, Chengleput in the East and Wandavāsi in the West.
The Uttaramemr village now has a total population of about 22,000 people, with a male female ratio almost equal. About 47% of the total village area is under cultivation out of which 75% of the fields raise paddy followed by l0% sugar cane. The village draws its irrigation water from Tanks and wells, while 20% of the cultivation is dependant on rains. About 14% of the cultivated land is clay soil while 64% is fine sand, which means it is with hard labour that the villagers have converted the lands into paddy cultivating area. A vast majority of landholders numbering almost 5000 in the village are small landholding cultivators now.
There are about 41 lakes and 124 minor irrigation tanks in the Uttaramerūr village Panchayat and Uttaramerūr town Panchayat. People Whose caste names are "Sembadavars" or “Parvatha-raja-kulars’ are engaged in fishing in large scale here. They use the traditional large and small fish nets. The total yield is sold in the local markets and some quantity sent to nearby towns.
There were separate bathing Tanks for men called "Tāmarai Kuḷam’ (Lotus ponds) and for ladies "Nangaiyar Kuḷam" (Ladies Tanks). Local legends hold that this place was a thick forest in ancient times and Pallavas established it as a beautiful township. The yearly income of the village is around Rs.45 lakhs and expenditure about Rs.37 lakhs. The average rainfall was around 1300 mm annually from 1998 to 2000; however there was only 600 mm in the year 2000. There are about 2300 built houses. There are Educational Institutions, like Higher Secondary Schools separately for boys girls besides middle schools and Polytechnics now functioning under the jurisdiction of Uttaramerūr Taluk.
There are separate areas like "Rāja Medu", "Māligai Medu", "Bungalow Medu", "Jambu Medu", "Patti Medu", which are well defined. Kottamedu street i.e. fort mound was used for horsemen within living memory. Ānaikkatti street similarly standing for Elephant corps, was once used for elephants. Vandikkāraṉ street used to cater to the needs of the merchant community. Those who were appointed for protecting the King were living in a place called. "Maṉṉan Kudisai". The hunters were living in a place called "Vedar Pālayam". The biggest drinking water tank is called "Vaira Megha Tadāgam".
Uttaramerūr has the following communities living within its boundaries. Brahmins, Vanniyars, Reddiyars, Vellalars, Kannnavar, Naidus, Mudaliyars and Yadavas besides others. The village has nearly 73 hamlets around and is administered by an elected Village Assembly catering to the local administration ably supported by the Government organizations. Though a Vanniyar dominated village, with Brahmins and Muslims and other castes living side by side, the village has not witnessed any communal friction.
Even as one approaches the village, the green paddy and sugar cane fields, coconut and plantain groves, appearing on a vast sheet of land, exhibit the prosperous agriculture nature of the village. However, it is interspersed with rocky outcrops and palm trees here and there, that tell us that the fertile nature is mainly due to hard labour of inhabitants of the village in the bygone ages, rather than the richness of the soil. The region is not an alluvial belt as the rice belt of Tanjore district of Tamilnād, where the perennial river Kaveri endows the land with ever rich fertility, where minimum effort is sufficient to raise paddy, sugar cane, plantains, coconut etc. Uttaramerūr village is entirely dependent on Tank irrigation, and seasonal rains, the failure of which is not uncommon. However, with a well organized village assembly, network of irrigation canals, very well maintained and judicial distribution of the available water resources from the 8th to 12th centuries as revealed from the inscriptions of the village, Uttaramerūr experienced prosperity. Prior to 8th cent it ought to have been full of thorny bushes and wild trees. The Pallava dynasty that ruled this region effectively from the 6th to 9th cent, specialized in clearing forests and bringing land under cultivation. So much so they were called Kadu Vettikal (those who cleared the forests). According to local legends the Pallavas cleared the forest and made it fit for cultivation. It may be seen that only about 20% soil is clay and clay with sand, most suitable for paddy cultivation, the rest are waste lands with forest trees etc. The villagers have dexterously tapped the ground water through irrigation wells to supplement the lake irrigation and by sheer labour have, made the land fertile.
Mahābhārata enacted
One of the most interesting festivals of this village is the on of the Mahābhārata festival held once in two years re-enacting the events of Mahābhāratā culminating in the and death of Duryodhana on the final day. This is held near the Draupadi Amman temple also known as Dharmarāja temple. A huge lying figure representing Duryodhana made of brick and clay, over 50 feet long, remains in the village as a landmark. All the communities of the village vie with each other to participate in the festival. Street Dancers of ancient tradition from nearby village narrate, sing and enact the episodes of Mahābhārata here indicating its association with Kṛṣna for about thousand three hundred years. It will be seen in the sequence that the village had many temples including one named Kurukshetra and others dedicated to Kṛṣṇa and a temple of Rāma called Ayoddhip perumān
Ancient Village Layout
It was developed, and laid out in the 8th cent on a very planned basis as prescribed by Vaishnavite Agamic text, that has luckily survived to this day. Placed on a perfectly systematized vāstu grid, the secular buildings, commercial centres, temples, cultivable lands and irrigation canals, were distributed in an amazing accuracy, that would stand out as a model for modern town planners. The naming of residential quarters, roads, streets, and canals followed a set application. For example the pathways were named after different titles of the founder king, like Avani nāraṇaṉ vadi, Pallava nāraṇaṉ vadi, Thiru Nāraṇaṉ vadi, and the like. The canals were named after Gods and goddesses like Ganapati vāykkāl, Subramaṇya vāykkāl, Sarasvati vāykkāl, Pārvati vāykkāl and Sridevi vāykkāl. The streets had the names given in Āgamic text as Mangaḷa vīthi etc. The shopping streets were called the Northern bazzar, Middle bazzar and the Southern bazzars. While the residential buildings that were founded over one thousand years ago have disappeared, (only a few houses that are about 200 years old survive now) the temples that were built then still stand majestically, many of them under worship continuously for the past 1200 years.
The cultivable lands were divided into blocks, serially numbered along the irrigation canals and each block was sub divided into four squares of equal measurement. The irrigation canals were also serially numbered and the village assembly maintained an accurate land record. This extraordinary system of efficient village management prevalent in the 9th to 12th centuries made it possible to enlarge agricultural activity and economic prosperity.
A remarkable feature of this village is that the Village assembly hall that transacted the village administration for over five hundred years, still exists in its original position with all its records. These were inscribed on stone walls from 750 AD to 1250 AD. However the superstructure, built originally of brick, has disappeared and in its place, stands a stone temple of Viṣṇu, built around 1090 AD. It now goes by the name "Vaikunta Perumal" temple. The village Sabha maṇdapa, (Assembly hall) is virtually the village archives, an unparalleled example in the history of India. It is on the walls of this maṇdapa that the mode of elections to the village assembly, written in 920 AD, is preserved. The maṇdapa also preserves a variety of secular transactions of the village, dealing with Administrative, Judicial, Commercial, agricultural, transportation, and irrigation regulations, as administered by by then village assembly, giving a vivid picture of the efficient administration of the village society in bygone ages.
This maṇdapa is located exactly in the centre of the ancient village layout, and all its temples are oriented with reference to this central point. Thus the Viṣṇu temple (Sundara-varadap-perumal) is located in the west of the village. To its side is the Subrahmaṇya temple. To the north is located the Śiva temple (Kailasanātha temple) and also the Sapta mata temple. A temple of Durga is located to the north of the central point. A Jyeshta was existing to the South west of the village, but the sculpture alone now remains insitu. A big irrigation tank exists in the village in the West. All these ancient vestiges, located with reference to the central point, are found in the same locations prescribed by the Vaiṣṇava Āgamic text Marīchi Samhita, which is followed from the 8th cent to the present day.