Perumukkal is a small village in the

Tindivanam Tindivanam is a municipality in Viluppuram district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is the second largest town in Villupuram District after the headquarters town Villupuram. Important roads from north to s ...

municipality of the Villuppuram district in the

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 ...

n 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 ...

. The major occupation of its residents is agriculture. In 2011 it had a population of 3,000.

Etymology

During the

Chola The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...

dynasty, Perumukkal was known as "''perumukkilaana gangai konda nalloor''" (). The current name is an abbreviation of this earlier title.

Location

Perumukkal is located east of

, west of

Marakkanam Marakkanam is a coastal Selection Grade panchayat town & Taluk in Viluppuram district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is well connected to the state capital Chennai and the nearby union territory of Puduch ...

on the

road.

Hospitals and other facilities

The medical centers in Perumukkal include perumukkal PHC , Rajeswari Clinic.

Historical sites

The recorded history of Perumukkal dates back six millennia. Historical landmarks in Perumukkal include the 4000 B.C.E.

Petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

, the 7th century Mukthialeeswarar Temple, the ruined Kamatchiamman temple, and a

Dargah A Sufi shrine or dargah ( ''dargâh'' or ''dargah'', Turkish: ''dergâh'', Hindustani: ''dargāh'' दरगाह درگاہ, ''dôrgah'') is a shrine or tomb built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint or dervi ...

Petroglyphs

Petroglyphs are found in

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 ...

Cave, which is located at the top of a hill near the village. Local people believe

, the central female character in the Hindu epic

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 ...

, lived in this cave. This is the only petroglyph ever discovered in

and is one of the four found in India. These petroglyphs are similar to the

Egyptian Hieroglyphics Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs ( ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined ideographic, logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with more than 1,000 distinct characters.I ...

letters and hence are believed to be from around 4000 BCE. However, some researchers date these to the

megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. More than 35,000 megalithic structures have been identified across Europe, ranging geographically f ...

ic age.

Perumukkal Fort

The Perumukkal Fort is a small fort about 437 feet above sea level was built by Vijayanagar kings in 14 th Century. Situated on a hill, ruins of the fort are an indication of where it once stood. This fort has been subject to various conquests. In 1761 it was captured by Sir Eyre Coote of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

. In 1780 the fort was captured by

Haider Haider is a predominantly Arabic name, with alternative spellings such as Haidar, Haydar and Heydar. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Haider Shah 15th-century sultan of Kashmir *Haider Al-Abadi, Iraqi politician * Haider Acke ...

, and regained by the English in 1783. In 1790 it was taken by Tippu.

Mukthialeeswarar Temple

The Mukthialeeswarar Temple, located atop of the Perumukkal

hillock A hillock or knoll is a small hill,The Free Dictionary
"hillock" entry, retrieved December 18, 2007 ...

, had originally been built in brick, was converted to a stone temple during the period of

Vikrama Chola Vikrama Chola, known as Kō Parakēsari Varman, was a 12th-century ruler (''r. c''. 1118–1135 CE''The Cōḷas.'' 62-63.) of the Chola Empire in southern India. He succeeded his father Kulothunga I (''r. c.'' 1070–1120 CE) to the throne.''The ...

(1118-35 CE). The deity of the temple is known as Tiruvanmikai Eswaramudayar, as well as Perumukkal Udayar in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

(பெருமுக்கல் உடையார்) and Mukthiyaleeswarar in

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 ...

. The donations made by the Chola,

Pandya The Pandya dynasty (), also referred to as the Pandyas of Madurai, was an ancient Tamil dynasty of South India, and among the four great kingdoms of Tamilakam, the other three being the Pallavas, the Cholas and the Cheras. Existing sinc ...

Sambuvaraya The Sambuvarayar chieftains once ruled the Tondaimandalam region of South India. Among them was ''Edirili Chola Sambhuvaraya'', a vassal under Rajadhiraja Chola II and Kulotunga Chola III, who ruled the northern part of Tondaimandalam, now compr ...

Vijayanagara Vijayanagara () is a city located in Vijayanagara district of Karnataka state in India.Vijayanagara

rulers have been recorded in more than 60 Vatteluthu inscriptions found on the temple walls dating back to the 7th century C.E.

Anjaneya Temple
This temple is present to the south of Mukthialeeswarar Temple. The inscriptions say that it is built by Ambalavan Kandarathithan.

Kamatchiamman Temple
The temple at the foot of the hill, is called Thiru Kama Kotta Periya Nachiyar koil as per the inscriptions in that temple. The temple is in complete ruins. Nadana. Kasinathan and Ara. Vasanthakalyani, "Perumukkal Kalvettukal", Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, Chennai, 1998

Gallery
File:Perumukkal inscription 1.JPG, Inscription File:Sita Cave.JPG, Sita Cave Entrance File:Perumukkal petroglyph 2.JPG, Petroglyph Symbol 1 File:Perumukkal petroglyph 3.JPG, Petroglyph Symbol 2

References

External links
{{Commons category, Perumukkal
Perumukkal petroglyph video
Villages in Viluppuram district