Ayothiapattinam is a

panchayat town A nagar panchayat () or town panchayat or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,00 ...

located in

Vazhapadi taluk Vazhapadi taluk is one of the thirteen taluks of Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Vazhapadi. Administration Vazhapadi taluk is divided into two revenue blocks, Valapady block and Ayot ...

Salem district Salem District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district is now divided into Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal as individual districts. Salem is the district headquarters and other major towns in the dis ...

in the state of

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 ...

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 ...

. This village is called Ayothyapatinam because of famous Kodandaramaswamy Temple, and is called as the (Ayodhya of South India). The temple is thought to remain from the time of

Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

and finds mention in the

Valmiki Ramayana The ''Ramayana'' (; ), also known as ''Valmiki Ramayana'', as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics ...

Etymology

The word "Ayodhya" is a regularly formed derivation of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

verb ''yudh'', "to fight, to wage war". ''Yodhya'' is the future passive participle, meaning "to be fought"; the initial ''a'' is the negative prefix; the whole, therefore, means "not to be fought" or, more idiomatically in English, "invincible". This meaning is attested by the ''

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

'', which uses it to refer to the unconquerable city of gods. The town is called as the Dakshina Ayodhya or (Ayodhya of South India) .

Geography

Location

Ayothiapattinam is located 7 km east of Salem city. It acts as a gateway to Salem City for the people coming from east and northeast districts of Tamil Nadu. It is located 35 km from Yercaud, 168 km from Coimbatore, 195 km from Bengaluru and 330 km from Chennai.

Demographics

At the 2001 India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Ayothiapattinam had a population of 9,956. Males constituted 50% of the population and females 50%. Ayothiapattinam had an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 11% of the population was under 6 years of age.

Kodandaramaswamy Temple

Kodandaramaswamy Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to Hindu deities, deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to who ...

located in the

, dedicated to Lord

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

, the seventh avatar of Lord

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 ( ...

. The temple is said to have been built primarily by Maharishi

Bharadvaja Bharadvaja (, ; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and a physician. He is one of the Saptarshis (seven great sages or Maharṣis). His co ...

and later constructed by Adhiyaman kings. The Raja Gopura of the temple is said to have been built by

Tirumala Nayaka Tirumala Nayaka (reigned 1623–16 February 1659) was the ruler of Madurai Nayak Dynasty in the 17th century. He ruled Madurai between 1623 and 1659. His contributions are found in the many splendid buildings and temples of Madurai. He belon ...

. As per legend,

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

Lakshmana Lakshmana (, ), also known as Laxmana, Lakhan, Saumitra, and Ramanuja, is the younger brother of Rama in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is considered as an incarnation of Shesha, the lord of serpents. Lakshmana was married to Urmila, and i ...

and

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

while returning from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

stayed in the

Maharishi Ashrama Which was located here. Rishi

wanted to see the divine pattabisheka of

wanted to fulfill the wishes of the Maharishi and he gave a darshan to the maharishi and

maharishi ''prathishtaied'' the ''Archa roopam'' of Sri Rama. The sanctum sanctorum was built by king Adhiyaman and the other mandapas built by

. This temple is one of the Purana kshethram and Abhimana sthalam as it is mentioned in

and is a

temple.

References

Sources

* * Abhimana temples of Vishnu Cities and towns in Salem district Vishnu temples {{SalemIN-geo-stub