What are some lesser known ancient temples in Tamil Nadu?

 Tamil Nadu is like a treasure house, the more you find the more you get surprises and it's no wonder why every month some other other family gets some or other artifacts when they dig up their ground to build a house.

There are some temples in Tamil Nadu that are very beautiful, ancient but doesn't get much visits.

These temples are not much famous and can be found in interior parts of Tamil Nadu and listing a few of then here.

1.Jurahareshwarar Temple, Kanchipuram

Located on the banks of Palar river in Kanchipuram is a Pallava temple built in Dravidian style of architecture.

It's said that this temple was built by Narasimhavarman 2 during 700 to 728 CE ( 1300 years old) which is now maintained by ASI.

Juram or Jwaram means fever in Tamil and Lord Shiva here is considered as the one who saves people from fevers

Unlike other temple, the sanctum is semi circular which is unique to Dravidian temples.

2. Udayarpalayam Payaraneeswarar Temple

Present in the Udayarpalayam village of Ariyalur district, this temple is very old, it's said that it's nearly 1400 years old built by Cholas.

This temples has the largest temple tank in Tamil Nadu and the temple has many sculptures.

This temple doesn't get many visitors as it's so much famous but actually most temple scenes in Tamil movies gets shooted here because of the peace( very less visitors and hence can shoot without any disturbance).

Also this temple is maintained by the Udayarpalayam Jamindar family and thus it's private temple and gets easy permission to shoot films.

3.Talagirishwara Temple, Panamalai, Villupuram Dist

This temple is built on a small hill next to a Panamalai lake and this makes the temple more beautiful.

This temple is also built by Narasimhavarman 2 of Pallava dynasty ( actually this King has built many temples during his reign).

He is the one who built the Shore Temple as well teh Kailasanathar temple which both are UNESCO world Heritage sites.

So this temple is built in 7th century, there are many beautiful Sculptures in this temple and also a 7th century mural painting of the Pallava king .

4.Marudamalai Murugan Temple, Coimbatore

Built by the Kongu Vettwa Kings, Marudamalai Murugan temple is a famous as well a beautiful temple present in the foothills of eastern side of the Western Ghats.

Actually there are 6 abodes for Lord Muruga Or Karthikeya in Tamil Nadu but the Marudamalai temple is considered as the 7th and a special abode for Lord Muruga.

The temple is special because the ancient Tamil poets have sung many famous songs praising the Nurugan here.

Beautiful right?

5.Chitharal Malai Kovil Or Cave Temple and Bhagavathi Temple, Kanyakumari

These two temples one is Jain and the other one is Hindu temple is next to each other.

The cave temple is bit old in 1st millenium CE but the main temple is said to built in 9th century by the Pandya king Vikramaditya Varaguna Pandya.

It's a very holy site for Digambara Jains and for Hindus as well .

6.Erumbeeshwarar Temple, Tanjore

Actually this temple is very unique because it's built like a small fort which is unique to Tamil NaduAditya but inside it has many sculptures.

Interesting mythological story explains how Devas (celestial creatures with godly characters) worshipped Lord Shiva, disguising themselves like ants, tricking the demons ( Erumbu means ant in Tamil)

The Lingam here is a sand linga and it is believed those who pray in this temple can avoid their fears and attract prosperity to the family.

This temple is built on a small hilllock by Chola King Aditya!

What is the history behind Brihadeeshwarar Temple in Tamil Nadu?

 In or shortly before the year 1003 CE, the Chola Emperor Rajaraja I woke one morning and said that he had a dream of Shiva, which inspired him to create a temple that would showcase the glory of Shiva, and also of course, of his own Empire.

He gave the temple endowment in 1003 and construction began on the south bank of the Kaveri River in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu. The designer was Kunjara Mallan Raja Rama Perunthachan, the greatest architect living in the Chola Empire at the time. The temple was built entirely using granite stones brought fron distant quarries. The temple is adorned with intricate carvings and sculptures depicting various sacred stories and scenes from Hindu sources of knowledge.

Particularly impressive is the temple’s main vimana tower, which is 216 tall, with a stone weighing 80 tons placed on top of it! An extraordinary architectural feat.

Construction was completed in 1010. Emperor Rajaraja personally installed a gold-plated kalasam (pot), which was placed as a finial atop the spire to consecrate the temple.

The Emperor and his vassals gifted thousands of kilograms of gold, silver, and precious gemstones to the temple; the Emperor himself gave over 38,000 gold coins into the temple’s coffers.

The temple’s main deity is a huge Shiva Linga.

It also includes shrines for Ganesha,

Parvati, Sabhapati, Dakshinamurti, Chandeshvara Nayanar, Varahi,

Thiyagarajar of Thiruvarur, Siddhar Karuvoorar, and more. The original inscriptions, frescoes, and sculptures throughout the temple were predominantly Shaiva, but also included some Vaishnava and Shakta images to honor and welcome them. It also contains important inscriptions and frescoes that narrate the history of the Chola dynasty and the region.

The temple’s original name was Rajarajesvaram (Rajaraja’s Lord), referring to Shiva. By the 1500s it had come to be called in Tamil Peruvudaiyar Kovil (Temple of the Great Lord), which then became translated into Sanskrit as Brihadishvara (Great Lord’s temple or Huge Lord’s temple). It is also called Dakshina Meru. The popular local Tamil speakers call it Thanjai Periya Kovil which simply means “big temple in Thanjavur”.

Throughout its history the temple has been a major charity institution, providing daily free meals for visitors. Most days these meals are relative simple; on Hindu festival days they are elaborate.

Muslim Sultans raided the temple and caused some damage. Because of this, some of the temple’s original artwork is now missing. Hindu rulers such as the Nayakas and Marathas restored the temple and made further additions, such as new mandapam and monuments. Various rulers added new shrines to other deities besides Shiva within the temple’s courtyard, if they found that their own personal favorite deity was not yet featured.

After the 1500s, fortified walls were built around the temple to protect it from further raids.

In the 1500s and 1600s, the Nayakas added a pavilion housing the statue of Nandi,

and also added significant shrines of Murugan

and Parvati Amman. Some rulers had new murals added over the faded or defaced older ones.

Brihadishvara Temple remains an actively functioning temple to this day.

Kaveri river dispute between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka

 The Kaveri river water dispute dates back to the British rule. During their regime, numerous plans were drawn up for the utilization of the Cauvery waters by both states. However, the drought and subsequent famine in the mid-1870 put a hold on the implementation of these plans. The plans were revived by Mysore in 1881, by which time Mysore was back in the hands of the Mysore kings, while present day Tamil Nadu continued to remain a part of the Madras Presidency. Started about 30 years ago after independence.

In 1910, Maharaja Krishnaraja Wodeyar decided to construct a dam at the Kannambadi village. Madras, however, refused to give its consent for this move as it had its own plans to build a storage dam at Mettur with a capacity of 80 TMC. The Cauvery dispute thus had come up for arbitration for the first time.

After independence and state reorganization in 1956, Coorg became a part of the Mysore state. Redrawing of state boundaries caused parts of Kerala and Puducherry to be in the Cauvery River basin and therefore become stakeholders in the sharing of its waters. Kerala staked its claim as one of the major tributaries of the Cauvery since the Kabini River, now originated in Kerala.

The Karaikal region of Puducherry at the tail end of the river demanded the waters that it claimed to have always been using for drinking and some minimal agriculture. While these additional claims complicated matters greatly at a technical level, Mysore state and Tamil Nadu still remained the major parties to the dispute.

The Kaveri river

By the late 1960s, both states and the Central government began to realize the gravity of the situation as the 50-year run of the 1924 agreement was soon coming to an end. Negotiations were started in right earnest and discussions continued for almost 10 years.

While discussions continued, a Cauvery Fact Finding Committee (CFFC) was constituted. The brief of the CFFC was to inspect the ground realities and come up with a report. The CFFC came up with a preliminary report in 1972 and a final report in 1973. Inter state discussions were held based on this report.

In 1976, after a series of discussions between the two states and the Central government chaired by Jagjeevan Ram, the then Irrigation Minister, a final draft was prepared based on findings of the CFFC. This draft was accepted by all states and the Government also made an announcement to that effect in Parliament. When Karnataka began construction of the Harangi dam at Kushalanagara in Kodagu, it was once again met with resistance from Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu went to court demanding the constitution of a Tribunal under the Interstate River Water Disputes Act (ISWD) of 1956. It also demanded the immediate stoppage of construction work at the dam site.

In 1986, a farmer’s association from Tanjavur in Tamil Nadu moved the Supreme Court demanding the constitution of a tribunal. The Supreme Court then directed the government headed by Prime Minister V. P. Singh to constitute a tribunal and refer all disputes to it. A three-man tribunal was thus constituted on 2 June 1990. The tribunal was headquartered at New Delhi and was to be headed by Justice Chittatosh Mookerjee.

Violent protests in the Kaveri issue, people raising Karnataka’s flag

Fear among Tamils in Bangalore

Soon after the tribunal was set up, Tamil Nadu demanded a mandatory injunction on Karnataka for the immediate release of water and other reliefs. This was dismissed by the tribunal. Tamil Nadu now went back to the Supreme Court which directed the tribunal to reconsider Tamil Nadu’s plea.

Karnataka was thus forced to accept the interim award and widespread demonstrations and violence broke out in parts of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu following this. Thousands of Tamil families had to flee from Bangalore in fear of being attacked and lynched by pro-Kannada activists with the behest of the state government. The violence and show down, mostly centered in the Tamil populated parts of Bangalore, lasted for nearly a month and most schools and educational institutions in Bangalore remained closed during this period.

In 1995, the monsoons failed badly in Karnataka and the state found itself hard pressed to fulfill the interim order. Tamil Nadu approached the Supreme Court demanding the immediate release of at least 30 TMC. The Supreme Court this time recommended that the then Prime Minister, P. V. Narasimha Rao, intervene and find a political solution. PM Rao convened a meeting with the Chief Ministers of the two states and recommended that Karnataka release 6 TMC instead of the 11 TMC that the tribunal ordered. Karnataka complied with the decision of the Prime Minister and the issue blew over.

The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal announced its final verdict on 5 February 2007. According to its verdict, Tamil Nadu gets 419 TMC of Cauvery water while Karnataka gets 270 TMC. The actual release of water by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu is to be 192 TMC annually. Further, Kerala will get 30 TMC and Puducherry 7 TMC. Both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka were unhappy with the decision and filed a revision petition.

Protests also occurred in Tamil Nadu in 2018 against the water sharing.

Several film makers of the Tamil film industry has also criticised and threatened to postpone the IPL matches involving Chennai Super Kings which were to be held in Chennai as a part of the 2018 Indian Premier League season as Chennai Super Kings making their comeback into the IPL league after 2 years as they were serving a 2-year ban along with Rajasthan Royals over the 2013 IPL betting scandal.

The 2018 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election which was a major concern in the state of Karnataka following the breakout of major Kaveri river water scandal has heaped in among several political dramatic turnarounds in the state with both main politicians B. S. Yeddyurappa and Siddaramaiah being historically defeated at the assembly elections.

The Supreme Court on 16 February 2018 delivered its verdict in the Kaveri water dispute, allocating more water to the state of Karnataka.

Is it now possible to construct a new temple like the Tanjore Brihadeeswar Periya Koil, constructed 1000 years back by the great Chola king, Raja Raja Cholan?

 Let’s start with an interesting discussion - Imagine we had built a temple and some archeologists surveyed it after 1000 years (ie,1000 years from 2022) - what can he learn from it??. What will be left for him to learn from it??

Firstly, the temple we build today should withstand 1000 years. I don’t think any of the latest technology can assure this durability. Our priorities are different now - quicker, easier and cost-effective. Our normal constructions can withstand between 50–70 years, better - 100 years, and at best - 150 years. That’s it. Let’s say we make use of the best of the best technology, manpower, and material to build this temple - the max it can withstand is 500 years, after spending heavily on maintenance.

This is because the materials we use today lack quality and durability. No technology can assure material quality since it’s factory-made. Even naturally sourced materials such as sand and rock stones lack quality as the sediments and titanium plates have altered a lot.

• Some of the rocks are very deformed and altered due to continuous mineral deposits including alluvium and plant fossils. Their original form has been destroyed because of too much metamorphosis
• Next - All prominent metallic minerals (iron, manganese, etc) are found in these rocks. So even if we extract these rocks, we would be minting minerals out of them, rather than wasting them in building a structure.

Nobody can give 1000 years warranty - even if it’s given, we aren’t going to verify that after 1000 years, not even in 100 years. Next, Environmental clearance - that’s not going to be easy. Religious and political outfits will stir their part. Someone will file a case somewhere in India just to drag the project for the next 20 years, thus shooting up the project cost.

Secondly, the kings showed interest to build temples to document their glory and lifestyle as stone descriptions. Archaeologists studied the kings, their territories, their glory, the people, their lifestyle, the battles and blood the kings faced, the glory of their army, and to some extent — the architectural style they followed. The kings believed the temple is the safest place to engrave their glory so that it doesn’t get destroyed even after 1000 years - and they were right. We can still read them on the stones of the temple.

What glory do we have to document now?? - We fight on twitter, we shed blood during communal riots and drink and drive road accidents, every political party has a fake ID army in social media, our lifestyle is ridiculous and hectic, and we keep paying taxes just like dropping salt in an ocean, the only documentation of our lifestyle is available as screenshots in phone gallery. Our data are digitalized and the server gets into fire accidents mostly before an election. In simple words - our era is full of propaganda, hypocritic, and controversy. Just imagine what an archeologist after 1000 years will think about us if he learns all this. Maybe their era is worst than us - but still, we’re bad. 2013 is when social media started to flourish in India rapidly and look where we are now.

Our era is flooded with narration backed up with controversy. No matter how good an archeologist is after 1000 years, the more he digs and reads about us, the more he’ll get confused. He needs to spend another 50 years trying to trace what is truly among the flooded fakeness. Or simply he narrates the fake as truth - Is this what we want to achieve??

Ok, we can build a temple to spread religion. But will the people after 1000 years be spiritually religious or politically religious??. Fertility rates are falling down which impacts religious followers. Hindus are declining in India.

I doubt whether future generations can understand spirituality. So the temple we build today will be seen purely as a heritage destination or a tourist spot for a weekend photo shoot after 1000 years (if it stands strong)

And finally - the gods themselves. Saivism which existed 1000 years before has evolved into Hinduism now. What will Hinduism be after 1000 years?? - We don’t know, we can’t guarantee.

There is only one permanent structure than did exist before 1000 years, can withstand 1000 years, and will withstand the next 1000 years - The gods. Even before temples were built, the god did exist in coins and weapons. That’s evident in archeological pieces of evidence that were dug during various civilizations.

At least they had coins, we have only bitcoins.

What do we have in this digital era to document the existence of gods and rituals to be passed on for the next 1000 years?? - None - that’s the blunt truth.

The servers we use now will be outdated and put to no use just like how floppy disk in the 1980s is of no use now. So where do we digitally store or document our existence??

We don’t even have proper documentation for our existence on earth in this era to be read after 1000 years. The archaeologists after 1000 years will find piles of plastic waste that we dumped.

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Answering the original question - Is it now possible to construct a new temple like the Tanjore Brihadeeswar Periya Koil, constructed 1000 years back by the great Chola king, Raja Raja Cholan?

First, let us sort out whether it’s possible to construct evidence for our existence on earth that can withstand for the next 1000 years - without fake propaganda.

That will be the greatest glory our civilization can achieve !!!

Which Indian state produces the maximum wind power?

The production of power from wind energy has considerably increased in the recent years. Very recently in June this year, India became the fourth largest country with 34.293 gigawatt of installed wind power capacity in the world.

Tamil Nadu produces almost 29 percent of wind power in India, which is the highest among the states engaged in the generation of wind power. With the highest installed wind capacity, the state is home to Muppandal wind farm, the biggest wind power plant located in India. This windfarm situated in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu has a capacity of generating 1500 megawatt of power. The state’s wind turbines have a total installed capacity of 7.9 gigawatt which makes it a world leader in renewable energy.

Currently, the maximum renewable power in Tamil Nadu is generated from wind turbines which constitutes more than two-thirds of the total renewable power. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) has predicted that Tamil Nadu will double its wind-power capacity to 15 gigawatt by 2027.

In 2017, India introduced 5.5GW of wind-power capacity, 1.5 gigawatt more than the estimated target. As per the predictions of the World Resources Institute, if the country continues to function at the current installation rates, it will definitely be successful in doubling its wind-power capacity to about 60 gigawatt by 2022. With this, India will stand among the elite producers of wind energy in the world.

The other five Indian states which contribute to wind-power capacity after Tamil Nadu are-
1. Andhra Pradesh- 2.2 gigawatt
2. Gujarat- 1.3 gigawatt
3. Karnataka- 882 megawatt
4. Madhya Pradesh- 357 megawatt
5. Rajasthan- 888 megawatt