Anbil is a village in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Tiruchirappalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of T ...

district, close to

Lalgudi Lalgudi is a prominent municipality located in the Tiruchirapalli district of Tamil Nadu, India. This region has historical and cultural significance, serving as the administrative center for various divisions including Lalgudi taluk, Lalgudi E ...

, and situated on the banks of the Kollidam River. Anbil is known for its temples. These include the Sundararaja Perumal Temple (also called the Vadivalagiya Nambi Perumal Temple), which is dedicated to the Hindu god

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

; also the Anbil Mariamman Kovil temple, dedicated to the South Indian mother goddess

Mariamman Mariamman, often abbreviated to Amman (), is a Hindu Dravidian folk religion List of rain deities, goddess of weather, predominantly venerated in the rural areas of South India. Her festivals are held during the late summer/early autumn season ...

. The latter temple also holds a popular annual car festival. Anbil is the birthplace of many prominent figures in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

politics, including Anbil P. Dharmalingam, one of the founding members of the DMK Political Party and previous Cabinet Minister in the

Tamil Nadu government The Government of Tamil Nadu () is the administrative body responsible for the governance of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Chennai is the capital of the state and houses the state executive, legislature and head of judiciary. Under the Const ...

Temples

The Sundararaja Perumal temple was constructed in the Dravidian style of architecture and is mentioned in the ''

Nalayira Divya Prabandham The Naalayira Divya Prabandham () is a collection of 4,000 Tamil language, Tamil verses composed by the 12 Alvars. It was compiled in its present form by Nathamuni, Nāthamuni during the 9th–10th centuries. The work, an important liturgical ...

,'' the religious canon of the

Alvar An alvar is a biological environment based on a limestone plain with thin or no soil and, as a result, sparse grassland vegetation. Often flooded in the spring, and affected by drought in midsummer, alvars support a distinctive group of prairie ...

saints of the 7th–9th centuries CE. The temple priests, who belong to the

Vaishnava Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, '' Mahavishnu''. It is one of the major Hindu denominations along wit ...

community, perform the '' pooja'' (rituals) daily and during festivals. The Theerthavari festival celebrated in the

Tamil month The Tamil calendar (தமிழ் நாட்காட்டி) is a sidereal solar calendar used by the Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used in Puducherry, and by the Tamil population in Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Singap ...

of ''Masi'' (February–March), and Vaikuntha Ekadashi celebrated during the Tamil month of ''Margali'' (December–January), are the major festivals celebrated in the temple. The Sundararaja Perumal temple is one of the 108

Divya Desam Divya Desam (, ) or Vaishnava Divya Desams are the 108 Vishnu and Lakshmi temples that are mentioned in the Nalayira Divya Prabandham, works of the Alvars, the poet-saints of the Sri Vaishnavism, Sri Vaishnava tradition. By comparison, the Paad ...

temples dedicated to Vishnu. The Anbil Mariamman Temple, dedicated to Mariamman, is one of the seven most important Mariamman temples, which include the temples at Samayapuram, Narthan Malai, Veera Singa Pettai, Kannanur, Punnai Nallur and Thiruverkadu. This temple is approximately 700 years old. According to legends from the Puranas, during a flood on the Kollidam river, the Goddess Amman took refuge under the neem tree near this temple, after which the temple was constructed. It is a common for devotees without children to visit this temple to pray for children. The Anbil Alanthurai temple is dedicated to

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

, Alanthuraiar and Soundaranayagi. The architecture is of the Chola period (Parantaka Chola). Here the form of Vinayagar is called "Sevi saitha Vinayagar." It is one of the 275 Paadal Petra Sthalam. This place was referred to in ''

Tevaram The ''Tevaram'' (, ), also spelled ''Thevaram'', denotes the first seven volumes of the twelve-volume collection ''Tirumurai'', a Saivism, Shaiva narrative of epic and Puranas, Puranic heroes, as well as a Hagiography, hagiographic account of ...

'', written by the saint-poets (7th century) Thirugnana Sambandhar and

Appar Appar (), also referred to as Tirunavukkaracar () or Navukkarasar, was a seventh-century Tamil Shaiva poet-saint. Born in a peasant Shaiva family, raised as an orphan by his sister, he lived about 80 years and is generally placed sometime betwe ...

Agriculture

The economy of the village is predominantly agrarian. There has been a scarcity of labor for harvesting, but this has been addressed by use of mechanical harvesting. The main crops cultivated are

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

and paddy.

Transport

The closest railway station is in

, about 9 kilometres away. The closest airport is in

Tiruchirapalli Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

, which is about 36 kilometres away. The village is connected by the state bus transport system, TNSTC.

Gallery

Image:Anbilanthurai-1.jpg, Anbil Alanthurai Temple Image:Tiruanbil4.jpg, Sundararaja Perumal Temple

References

{{reflist Villages in Tiruchirappalli district