Rajamadam is a village in the Pattukkottai taluk of

Thanjavur district Thanjavur District is one of the 38 districts of the state of Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. Its headquarters is Thanjavur. The district is located in the delta of the Cauvery River and is mostly agrarian. As of 2011, Thanjavur district ...

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 ...

, India. Rajamadam to

Adirampattinam Adirampattinam is a newly established (Dec 2021) Municipality in the Pattukottai taluk of the Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is also short known by Adirai. It is the largest coastal town in the district and fourth larg ...

6 km distance from its Taluk Main Town

Pattukkottai Pattukkottai () is a major town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and also important town in Delta districts and Commercial town of Thanjavur, Thiruvarur and Pudukkottai district Coastal areas. The town came to prominenc ...

15 km . Rajamadam is 58.1 km distant from its District Main City

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the ...

and 320 km distance from its State Main City

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of ...

.It is the birth place of former President of India and independence activist R Venkitaraman.

Etymology

The name Rajamadam came from the Tamil words ''raja'' and ''madam''. Raja denotes king

Saraboji II Serfoji II Bhonsle ( ta, இரண்டாம் சரபோஜி ராஜா போன்ஸ்லே, mr, शरभोजी राजे भोसले (द्वितीय)) (24 September 1777 – 7 March 1832) also spelt as Sarabho ...

, who created this village. Madam denotes the shelter or Chattram or Madam built by him. There is a Madam still standing in this village with a portrait of King Saraboji II, which is the standing proof for the name of the village.

History

King Saraboji II built many Madams in

Tanjavur Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...

district. Some of them are Rajamadam, Sethubava Chatram, Ammani Chatram etc., for the travellers who are travelling in and around

. While constructing a Madam, he also created villages to support the particular Madam. So in year 1889 he built the Rajamadam village along with the Madam. He created

Agraharam An ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara'' was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to susta ...

where he relocated

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests ( purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers ( ...

s and he created four main streets, one for each direction surrounding the

. They are namely Keezhatheru(East Street), Melatheru (West Street), Vadaku theru (North Street) and Therku theru (South Street). Also he constructed two temples in each end of the

. They were

Sri Rajagopala Swamy temple Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple, also referred to as Santhana Rajagopalaswamy Temple, is a Hindu temple in Rajamadam Village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The deity came in dreams of King Serfoji II (Sarabhoji II Bhonsle) and blessed him with a mal ...

and

Sri Kasi Viswanatha Swamy temple Shri (; , ) is a Sanskrit term denoting resplendence, wealth and prosperity, primarily used as an honorific. The word is widely used in South and Southeast Asian languages such as Marathi, Malay (including Indonesian and Malaysian), Javanese, ...

. Now there was some space remaining after the construction of Sri Rajagopala Swamy temple. He created a street out of it and he named it Otha Agraharam (Brahmin Houses on only one side of the street). He also constructed village deities for each street. They included Kali Amman Temple, Thachi Amman Temple, and Ganesh Temple. He also constructed various ponds to support the people of this village. They were Chatrakulam (

Pond A pond is an area filled with water, either natural or Artificiality, artificial, that is smaller than a lake. Defining them to be less than in area, less than deep, and with less than 30% Aquatic plant, emergent vegetation helps in disting ...

of Madam) which was used by the Agraharam people, travellers and crew of Madam. Then BavaKulam named after one of his Wife Sethu Bava was constructed for the North Street. Prakulam was constructed for the South Street. Senkankulam was constructed for East Street and Mocha Kulam for West Street.

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

started flourishing with the water taken from these ponds as well as the

Agniyar River The Agniyar River is a non-perennial river in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu that flows southeast into the Bay of Bengal. Course The river begins as a small stream south of Keeranur, proceeding south and east, passing Karambakkudi. Southeas ...

, a tributary of

Cauvery The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery, the anglicized name) is one of the major Indian rivers flowing through the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The Kaveri river rises at Talakaveri in the Brahmagiri range in the Western Ghats, Kodagu dist ...

. This is the way the village was constructed along with Madam.

Demographics

As per the 2001 census, Rajamadam had a total population of 2304 with 1147 males and 1157 females. The sex ratio was 1009. The literacy rate was 60.95.

Notable People

R. Venkataraman Ramaswamy Venkataraman (, 4 December 191027 January 2009) was an Indian lawyer, Indian independence activist and politician who served as a Union Minister and as the eighth president of India. Venkataraman was born in Rajamadam village in Ta ...

- 8th President of India Rajamadam Kannan Iyengar - The Karnam of Karnams

Suratha Suratha ( ta, சுரதா) (23 November 1921 – 20 June 2006) was a Tamil poet, known for his similes. He was called "Uvamai Kavignar" ("poet of comparisons"). Early life Suratha was born in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu as T. Rajagopal on 23 Nove ...

- The Uvamai Kavigyar (Tamil Poet)

References

* Villages in Thanjavur district {{Thanjavur-geo-stub

Etymology

History

Demographics

Notable People

See also

References