Manimangalam is a small town located in the

Kanchipuram district Kancheepuram district is one of the 38 districts in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. The area comprising the present day Kancheepuram district was earlier a part of Chingleput district. The original Chingleput district was split in 1997 into ...

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 ...

state in Southern

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 ...

, famous for its ancient temples and inscriptions documenting the history of the ancient

Tamil kings This is a list of Tamils, ethnically Tamil and predominantly Tamil language, Tamil speaking monarchs, who ruled in Southern India and parts of Sri Lanka and South East Asia. The ancient Tamil monarchy was largely hereditary and supported by nume ...

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, the town had a population was 8198, of which 4,117 were males and 4,081 were females. The literacy rate is 72.60%. The town is located at a distance of from

Tambaram Tambaram is a southern suburb of Chennai, India. Located in the Chengalpattu district of Tamil Nadu, it is governed by Tambaram City Municipal Corporation and is a part of the Chennai Metropolitan Area. Etymology Tambaram is an ancient town ...

History

Manimangalam is a town of historic significance. This place became famous in the Pallava period as the site of the

Battle of Manimangala The Battle of Manimangala took place between the Pallavas and Chalukyas in the town of Manimangala in 642 AD. Manimangala is the first ever victory for the Pallavas against the Chalukyas and also the first of four successive defeats suffered ...

, in which the Pallava king,

Narasimhavarman I Narasimhavarman I was a emperor of the Pallava dynasty who ruled South India from 630 CE – 668 CE. He shared his father Mahendravarman I's love of art and completed the work started by Mahendravarman in Mamallapuram. During his reign fa ...

is said to have defeated the Chalukya King

Pulakeshin II Pulakeshin II ( IAST: Pulakeśin, r. c. 610–642 CE) was the most famous ruler of the Chalukya dynasty of Vatapi (present-day Badami in Karnataka, India). During his reign, the Chalukya kingdom expanded to cover most of the Deccan region in ...

, and as one of the places mentioned in the

Tamil copper-plate inscriptions Tamil copper-plate inscriptions are copper-plate records of grants of villages, plots of cultivable lands or other privileges to private individuals or public institutions by the members of the various South Indian royal dynasties. The study of ...

of Kūram (in the modern-day

). It is said that the town housed exporters and merchants of precious jewels. As gathered from inscriptions in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...

in local sites, the town was also known by ''Ratnagrahara'' and ''Ratna Grama'' (''The village of jewels'') The town houses the 1000-year old

Rajagopala Perumal Temple Rajagopala Perumal Temple is a Hindu temple located at Manimangalam, near Tambaram, a suburb of Chennai, India. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu. History The earliest references to Manimangalam are in relation to a battle fought between th ...

, devoted to

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

, and which is believed to have been built during the period of the

Medieval Cholas Medieval Cholas rose to prominence during the middle of the 9th century CE and established one of the greatest empires of South India. They successfully united South India under their rule and through their naval strength extended their influen ...

, and the Dharmeswara Temple, devoted to

Shiva Shiva (; sa, शिव, lit=The Auspicious One, Śiva ), also known as Mahadeva (; ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐ, or Hara, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions within Hin ...

, which is believed to have been built by

Kulottunga I Kulottunga I (;1025 CE - 1122 CE) also spelt Kulothunga (), was a Chola Emperor who reigned from 1070 CE to 1122 CE succeeding his cousin Athirajendra Chola. He also served as the Eastern Chalukya king from 1061 CE to 1118 CE, succeeding his ...

during the Later Chola period. In inscriptions found in both these temples, it is gathered that the town had several other appellations - it went by the name of ''Loka-Mahadevi-Chaturvedi-Mangalam'' during the time of

Rajaraja 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 ...

(alias ''Rajakesarivarman''), by ''Raja-Sulamani-Chaturvedi-Mangalam'' during the reign of the following kings

Rajadhiraja ''RajadhiRaja'' () is a 2014 Malayalam-language action thriller film, directed by Ajai Vasudev and written by the duo of Udayakrishna-Siby K. Thomas. The film stars Mammootty and Raai Laxmi, alongside an ensemble supporting cast including S ...

, Rajendra and Veera Rajendra and also by a few other names . From the time of Kulothunga Chola I to the end of the third Kulothunga period, the town was called 'Pandiyanai Irumadi Venkonda Chola Chaturvedi Mangalam' ('the town belonging to the Chaturvedi Chola who conquered Pandyas twice'). During the 18- year reign of Raja Raja III, the town was called "Grama Sikamani Chaturvedi Mangalam" (''Jewel among habitations'').

Temples

The Rajagopala Perumal temple is dedicated to the worship of Vishnu, in the form of ''Dwaraka-Pati'' ('the Lord of

Dvārakā Dvārakā, also known as ''Dvāravatī'' (Sanskrit द्वारका "the gated ity, possibly meaning having many gates, or alternatively having one or several very grand gates), is a sacred historic city in the sacred literature of H ...

'), and was also known in Tamil as . Besides this, there are two other temples in the town devoted to Vishnu called the Vaikuntha-Perumal temple and the Krishna-swami temple. There is another temple called Kailasa-Nathar temple devoted to Siva.

References

Villages in Kanchipuram district Archaeological sites in Tamil Nadu {{Kanchipuram-geo-stub