Ennayiram is a village in Vikravandi taluk in

Villuppuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

district in the

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

n state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

. The major occupation of the people living at this place is agriculture.

Etymology

''Ennayiram'' means eight thousand in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

. An inscription dated 1025 CE, belongs to the

Rajaraja Chola Rajaraja I (947 CE – 1014 CE), born Arunmozhi Varman or Arulmozhi Varman and often described as Raja Raja the Great or Raja Raja Chozhan was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 CE to 1014 CE. He was the most powerful Tamil king in South ...

mentions the name "Ennayiram". Hence the name "Ennayiram" is 1000 years old. It also refers to the caste name of

Jain Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

merchants. It has close connection with

Ashtasahasram Ashtasahasram ( sa, अष्टसहश्रम ') is a sub-sect of the Iyer community of Tamil Brahmins from the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Culture The Ashtasahasrams as Iyers belong to the Smarta (Shaivite) tradition, along with the ...

, a sub sect of Tamil Iyer community.

Information

* Name of the Place = Ennayiram * Taluk = Vikiravandi * District = Villupuram * State = Tamil Nadu * Country = India * Coordinates = 12°7'28"N 79°29'31"E * Area = 1 km² * Population = 1000 (2011)

Location

Ennayiram is located 20 km north of

Villupuram Viluppuram, Villupuram, or Vizhuppuram () is a Municipality and the administrative headquarters of Viluppuram district. Located south west of a Tiruvannamalai and north west of Cuddalore null The town serves as a major railway junction, ...

, 16 km southeast of

Gingee Gingee, also known as Senji or Jinji and originally called Singapuri, is a panchayat town in Viluppuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Gingee is located between three hills covering a perimeter of 3 km, and lies west of the ...

Transportation

Town buses from

town bus stand (bus no: 20, 21) to Pidaripattu go through Ennayiram. Otherwise, one can alight at Nemur Koot road bus stop (all mofussil buses going from

) and can take shared auto.

About the village

Ennayiram village has more than 1000 years old heritage. This village was a city during the

Rajaraja Chola I Rajaraja I (947 CE – 1014 CE), born Arunmozhi Varman or Arulmozhi Varman and often described as Raja Raja the Great or Raja Raja Chozhan was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 CE to 1014 CE. He was the most powerful Tamil king in South ...

period. It was dominated by

Jains Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle bein ...

before the arrival of

Ramanuja Ramanuja (Middle Tamil: Rāmāṉujam; Classical Sanskrit: Rāmanuja; 1017 CE – 1137 CE; ; ), also known as Ramanujacharya, was an Indian Hindu philosopher, guru and a social reformer. He is noted to be one of the most important exponents o ...

. It is also believed that Saint

had converted eight thousand

Vaishnavites Vaishnavism ( sa, वैष्णवसम्प्रदायः, Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ) is one of the major Hindu denominations along with Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. It is also called Vishnuism since it considers Vishnu as the ...

here. It was called Rajaraja Sathuurvedimangalam in those times. The main importance of this village comes from Azhagiya Narasimma Perumal temple, a Vedic college and Ennayira malai which contains evidence for the past existence of

monks.

poet Kalamegam was born in this village.

Azhagiya Narasimma Perumal Temple

{{Unreferenced section, date=December 2013 This temple was built by Raja Raja Chola and Narasimma Perumal was considered as the family deity of Rajaraja Chola. The

sanctum sanctorum The Latin phrase ''sanctum sanctorum'' is a translation of the Hebrew term ''קֹדֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁים'' (Qṓḏeš HaQŏḏāšîm), literally meaning Holy of Holies, which generally refers in Latin texts to the holiest place of th ...

has the idol of Lord Paramapathavasan and consorts Sridevi and Bhoodevi. The presiding deity is Lord Azhagiya Narasimmar. The temple also has a shrine for the six foot high idol of Lord Varahamurthy. Special pooja is performed in every Thiruvathirai Natchathiram day. Sadly, vandalism have dismembered the two hands of Lord Narasimmar which are made of green stone. The deity has been kept in a corner of the temple for the past 400 years. Saint

visited this temple twice. Koorathazhwar also visited this temple. This temple contains many Tamil inscriptions on the walls and stairs. It is surrounded by three Shiva temples namely Padaleeswarar temple, Brahmmapuriswarar temple at Brahmadesam and Ramanatha Eswarar temple at Esalam. All three Shiva temples are within two kilometers. All these temples are now under the control of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Existence of ancient Vedic College

The Vedic College functioned with 10 teachers and 340 students 800 years ago. The college provided free boarding to students and each student received one

seer (unit) A Seer (also sihr) is a traditional unit of mass and volume used in large parts of Asia prior to the middle of the 20th century. It remains in use only in a few countries such as Afghanistan, Iran, and parts of India although in Iran it indicate ...

of rice per day which was sufficient for their daily meals. The teachers got a daily allowance of one ''kalam'' which was equivalent to the cost of food for 16 persons per day. They were also given half ''kalingu'' gold as bonus per year. The village was also called as rajaraja chaturvedi Mangalam because the vedic college taught chaturdasa (3 vedas with 6 angam and meemasa, nyayam, puranam and dharmasaasthram). References of the same is found in 1st Rajendra chola’s (11th century) Sassanam.

Ennayira Malai (Ancient Jain cave, beds and inscriptions)

Another attractive feature of this village is the presence of Ennayira malai or Ennayiram hill with Jain cave and beds, which is now called as Koodalur hill. The 23rd Thirthankarar of

Jainism Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religion. Jainism traces its spiritual ideas and history through the succession of twenty-four tirthankaras (supreme preachers of ''Dharma''), with the first in the current time cycle being ...

, Parshavanathar, was nicely carved on the rock. There are 35 stone beds, a natural cave and five Tamil inscriptions. Among the five inscriptions, one belongs to the period of the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as f ...

king Nirubathunga Varman (850 to 882 CE), while the remaining four belong to the period of

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century B ...

King

Parantaka Chola I Parantaka Chola I (Tamil : பராந்தக சோழன் I) (873 CE–955 CE) was a Chola emperor who ruled for forty-eight years, annexing Pandya by defeating Rajasimhan II. The best part of his reign was marked by increasing success ...

(907 to 953 CE). Near the hill, broken black and red painted pots from 1st to 2nd centuries CE were found in large numbers.

References

*A. Dubey, "Commercialisation of Education in India", APH Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. *R. Mookerji, "Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist", Motilal Banarsidass Publ., New Delhi(1990) *Ananthapuram K. Krishnamurthy, "Senji pagudhiyil samanam", Malayamaan Publishers, Varkkalpattu, Cuddalore(2005) *K. Venkatesan, "Kalvettu", 85, April, State Department of Archaeology, Chennai (2011).
''The Hindu'' article on Ennayiram temple

External links

Ennayiramalai video (youtube)author's site Ennayiram College for Vedic Studies (News Article)
Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu Villages in Tiruvannamalai district Jain temples in Tamil Nadu 9th-century Jain temples Jain rock-cut architecture