'

0A2BTT&BR.

945

KODAIKANAL TALUK.

The

sists of the

taluk of Kodaikanal, constituted (see. p. 206) in 1889, conUpper and Lower Palnis, of which some description

CHAP. XV
K'odaikanai..

has already been given on pp. 3-6 above. deserving of separate mention is

The only

place in

it

Kodaikanal
of the

This sanitarium stands on the southern crest

Upper

Palni plateau, immediately above Periyakulam town.

It averages about

7,000 feet above the sea, the Gr.T.S. at the church (one of the highest buildings in it) being 7,209 feet above the sea, and that at Tredis, the Uaja of Pudukkottai's house (one of the least elevated of its residences), being 6,8H2 feet. The travellers' bungalow at Periyakulam, five miles from the foat of the hills, is 932 feet above mean sea level.

Eoman

Catholic

The European houses

mile wide, which
this the plains
is

sides of an irregular basin, roughly a mile

Kodaikanal are mostly built round the and a half long by a situated on the very edge of the precipitous
in

southern side of the Palnis.

side is high

From

the top of the southern rim of

are seen almost immediately

;

below\

Its northern

on the west it is also bounded by a ridge but on the east the land falls rapidly of considerable elevation away to the Low^er Palnis, and discloses fine views of that range and of the steep, square-topped peak of Perumdl hill (7,326 feet), On the inner slope rising head and shoulders above all his fellows. of the southern rim of the basin is a beautiful hanging wood wliich is called the Kodai-kanal, or 'forest of creepers,^ and gives its name to the place. The bottom of the basin was originally a swamp with a small stream wandering through it. In 1863 at the suggestion, and largely at the expense, of Mr. (afterwards Sir Verej Levinge, then Collector of Madura this was formed into a Down into this picturesque slieet lake by banking up the stream. of water, froiu the sides of the basin, run several beautiful wooded apurs on which stand some of the best houses in the place. They cause the lake to assume a shape something like that of a star-fish and thus, though nowhere much above half a mile across in a straight line, it is about three miles round, measured along the level road on its margin which follows its many indentations.

and steep

Above
^boot half

this

of the basin, are

Lake Road,' round the greater part of the sides two other principal lines of communication one w&y up the slopes and called the Middle Lake Road
'

'

346
CHAP. XV.
Kodaikanai..

ICABURA.
'

and another still higher up them and known as the Upper Lake Road.' These three are connected by many cross roads. There
are five chief routes out of
tlie

station.
'

To

the south-west a
;

new

road goes to the

twelve
miles

'

Pillar

Roclcs

referred to later

to the west, a

track runs past the Observatory to the

hill village

of F^umbarai,

away

to the north a

footpath leads through the

'Tinnevelly settlement' to Vilpatti, a village perched among impossible precipices not far from a fine waterfall; to the east Law's ghat' (begun in 1*^75 by Major G. V. Law, and already
'

referred to on p.
at the foot of

155 above) winds down to 'Neutral Saddle'

hill,
;

Perumal
Palnis

Upper and Lower

the natural boundary between the and to the south is the only practicable

route from Kodaikanai to the plains, a steep bridle-path twelve miles long which passes by the small hamlet of Shembaganur
directly

to the travellers'
foot of the hills.

below the station and then zigzags down precipitous slopes bungalow at Kistnama Nayak's tope at the
'

'

At
village')

.Shembaganur
is

(properly

Champakanur,

or

'

magnolia

a Jesuit theological college, a prominent object from

It is built

the bridle-path.

on land which was acquired by the

Jesuit Mission at various dates from 1878 onwards with the idea

and industrial school on these Cinchona planting and other agricultural enterprises were tried and failed, and eventually the idea was abandoned. In 1886 a bungalow was built on part of the land and in 1895 the erection of this college was sanctioned by the mission authorities. It now contains 50 students (20 of whom are French) who undergo a varied course of tuition, lasting seven years, to fit them for work in the various Jesuit missions in India and Ceylon. Kistnama Nayak's tope (usually called the Tope for short) is said to have been planted by, and named after, a relation of one of the ministers
of forming a great agricultural
hills.
;
'

'

of the

Nayakkan kings
that

the

downfall of

munsifs of

fled to Periyakulam after His descendants were village Vadakarai continuously up to as late as 1870.

of

Madura who

dynasty.

cart-road goes from the

Tope

to

Periyakulam

(five miles)

and thence
from the

to the nearest railway-station,

Ammayanayakkanur, 28

miles further east.

Visitors to Kodaikanai perform the 83 miles

and thence walk, up the bridle-path. AU luggage, supplies and necessaries have to be transported up this latter by coolies, and great are the delays and inconveniences. The proposed Yaigai valley railway from Dindigul to the head of the Kambam valley, and the Attur ghdt road (both referred to in
station to the
in bullock-transits,
ride, or are carried in chairs,

Tope

OAZITTREB.

247

; ;

348
CHAP. XV.
KoDAiKANAL.

MADUtlA.

Kamanur Lower Palnis. DouLtless there are many more. These monuments present peculiarities not noticed elsewhere. Erected by preference on a level outcrop of rock, each group of dolmens (box-shaped constructions open at one side and made of
reported to exist at Machur, Pannaikadn, Tandikkudi,
in the

and Paclialur

roughly-dressed slabs of stone)

is

usually enclosed by rectangular

(more rarely, circular) walls made of similar slabs set upright in the ground; the dolmens themselves are larger than usual, an average specimen being found to measure 8 feet by 3 feet and its cap-stone 11 feet by 6 feet; they are sometimes arranged in double parallel rows to prevent the heavy 'cap-stone from crushing its supports, the space between the several dolmens in each group, and between them and the enclosing walls, is filled in to a height of some three feet with rubble and earth embedded in this rubble occur stone receptacles, without tops, made of four upright slabs arranged in the form of a square, with a fifth for flooring, and measuring some 3 feet each way and 5 feet in height and some of the groups are surrounded, outside the enclosing wall of slabs, by small heaps of stone (about 2|- feet square and 1 foot high) placed at regular intervals in the form of a square. Searches within these remains resulted in the discovery of little beyond small fragments of red and black pottery of five or six different patterns (already observed elsewhere and figured in Mr. Bruce Foote's catalogue of the prehistorics at the Madras Museum) and a rust-eaten sickle identical in shape with those found in some of No bones were found, nor any cup-marks, the Nilgiri cairns. swastika designs, inscriptions or sculptures of any kind.
;
;

Besides these dolmens, kistvaens (constructions walled in on

all

four sides and floored and roofed with slabs) occur

at Palamalai

was found, buried in the ground and unconnected with any other remains, a large pyriform urn containing two small shallow vases and in several places are low circles of earth and stones, which may perhaps have been threshing-floors or cattle-kraals.

Hound about Kodaikanal

rapturous descriptions
falls

are several popular

'

sights.'

Many

of all of

unnecessary to add to the list. within easy reach namely, the

;
'

them are on record and it is They include at least three water'

Silver Cascade

'

on Law's

ghat, foiiaed by the Parappar stream (into which runs the rivulet
issuing from the lake)

the Glen Falls on a branch of the Parappar, alongside the path running northwards to Vilpatti ; and the Fairy Falls on the Pambar (' snake river') to the south-west of the station. Coaker's Walk (named after a Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers who was on duty in the district from 1870 to
;

'

'

'

'

'

OAZETTEBB.

249
CHAP, XV,
Kodaikanal.

1872 and made

brink of
tlie

tlie

1870

map

of Kodaikanal) runs along the very

steep

southern side of the

basin and

commands

wonderful views of the plains below. On clear days, it is said, even Madura, 47 miles away as the crow flies, can be made out from here. The Pillar Rocks are three huge masses of granite,
'

'

perhaps 400 feet high, which stand on the edge of the same side Between and below them of the plateau three miles further on. are several caves and chasms, and from the top of them is obtained a superb view of the Aggamalai, the precipitous sides of Here (and from the Kambam valley and the plains below.
Coaker's

Walk)

the '.spectre of the IJrocken

'

'

is

occasionally seeu

Doctor's Delight,' a on the mists which drive up from below. bold bluff about two miles further on, commands a panorama which is claimed to be even finer than that from the Pillar Hocks. Fort Hamilton, 9^ miles from Kodaikanal and on this same southern side of the plateau, is so named after the Major Douglas Hamilton of the 2 1st N.I. who was obligingly permitted by Sir Charles "^Frevelyan's Government to spend part of 1859 and (after an interval of service in Oiina) twelve months in 1861-62, all on full pay, in making the series of large sketches of the Palni Hills which are still to be seen in public and official libraries, and in writing the two short reports on the range which were printed in Madras in 1862 and 1864, respectively. There is no fort' at
'
' '

the place

only a small hut.

Its chief interest lies in the evidences

which are visible near by, and were first brought to notice by Major Hamilton, of the former existence there of a great lake. No record or even tradition regarding the formation of this survives. Judging from the traces of its water-line which still remain, it must have been nearly five miles long, from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile wide and from 30 to 70 feet deep. It was apparently formed by the side of a hill slipping down into a valley which rims northwards to the Amaravati river, and damming up the stream which ran at the bottom of it. This stream seems to have eventually cut its way through the huge natural embankment so formed, and thus emptied the lake it had itself once filled. The dam is about 200 yards long and the breach in it is now about 100 yards across and 90 feet deep. Major Hamilton (see the later of his two reports above mentioned) wrote with much enthusiasm of the possibilities of this spot as a site for a sanitarium or cantonment, but it would be most difficult of approach. This latter objection, it may here be noted in parenthesis, is also the answer to the many critics who have railed at the founders of Kodaikanal for having placed it where it stands
32

250

MABCTRA.

CHAP. XY. instead of in one or other of tlie many (otherwise) superior sites KoDAiKANAL. wliicli doubtloss exist on the Upper Palni plateau. When the
place was originated, the most practicable path
naturally wished
of this.

up the

hills

was

the existing bridle-road from Periyakulam, and the

to
settle

first

arrivals

as

close

as

might be to the top

European who visited the plateau and left any record of his journey was Lieutenant B. S. Ward, who surveyed the Palnis in 1821. His diary shows that he came up from Periyakulam by way of Vellagavi (a small hamlet on the slopes which is said to have been fortified as a haven of refuge by the former poligars of Vadakarai), cam]3ed on the 25th May just above the falls of the Pambar which face the present bridle-path, and went through the Kodaikanal basin. He makes no special mention of An extract from his memoir on the Palni and Travan this last core HiLls (' the Vurragherry and Kunnundaven Mountains,' as he called them), which has never otherwise been printed, was published by [Robert Wight, the well-known botanist, in the M.J.L.S. of October 1837 (Vol. YI).

The

first

In 1831 Messrs.
C.
E..

J.

C.

Wroughton

(then Sub- Collector)

and

Cotton (Judge of the Provincial Court, Southern Division)

went up from Periyakulam to Shembaganiir (their visit led to some slight repairs being done to the bridle-path), but Wight himself was the next European visitor to the range who has left any record His account appears in Vol. V (pp. 280-7) of of his journey. He went up in September 1836, apparently by the M.J.L.S. the steep gh4t from Devadanapatti to the Adukkam pass near the peak of that name. He mentions Shembaganiir but not the Kodaikanal basin. His report on tlie botany of the range has already been referred to on p. 15.

The first people to build houses at Kodaikanal were the American missionaries of Madura. In lSo8 so many of them had been compelled to take sick leave and go to Jaffna (their then
centre) that the mission actually proposed to purchase a special

vessel to carry the invalids

and the convalescents backwards and

forwards.

This idea was eventually abandoned in favour of the suggestion that a sanitarium should be established on the Sirumalais,
its

that range being chosen on account of

propinquity to Madura.

Two bungalows were built there, but much from fever that in January 1845
as an alternative site

their occupants suffered so

the Palnis were examined June of the same year two bungalows were begun at the foot of the Kodai-kanal, near the spot on which * Sunnyside now stands, and were finished in October.

and

in

'

GAZETTBEB.

251
of

Not long afterwards, Mr. John Blackburnc, Collector Madura between 1834 and 1847 and the man who had done

CHAP. XV.
Kodaikanal,

so

improvement of the revenue system on these hills bungalow about five miles away (see the survey map of 1890) at the top of the Adukkam Pass. This came first fire which was t<5 an untimely end, being burnt down by the In 1848-49 lighted in it, but its foundations can still be traced. Mr. Thomas Clarke (then Sub-Collector and the author of an excellent report on the Palnis, dated May 185'3), Mr. C. R. Baynes (the District Judge) and Mr. R. D. Parker (Blackburne's successor) all built themselves bungalows on the high ground just south of the Kodai-kanal, on the strip of cliff overlooking the plains which Plans of the place Roseneath.' runs from Parabar House to in official records show that Parker's house was built where Pambar House now stands Baynes' was on the site of the building next east of this which is now owned by the Roman In Catholic Mission; and Clarke's was the nucleus of Roseneath. this latter Bishop Caldwell lived for many years and it was there that he died. Soon afterwards, Captain W. H. Horsely, the Civil Engineer,' erected a fourth bungalow between Baynes' and Clarke's, and the American Mission began the house now called Claverack.' About 1852 a Major J. M. Partridge of the Bombay Army came up and pitched tents at the bottom of the lake basin. Tempestuous weather soon drove him to erect some better shelter, and he put up a rough bungalow on the spot now called, in consequence, Bombay Shola.' He had one of the earliest gardens in the station and is credited with being the first to introduce blue-gums Of two huge gums which formerly stood near his house, into it. He at one time one still survives and is the biggest in tlie place. proposed to import artisans for the benefit of the community, and shop near his the records show that there was at least one
for the
(see p. 20b), built himself a
' ' ' ; ' ' ' '

much

'

residence.

The above individuals were the pioneers their seven houses were the only ones in the place in 1853, and even by 1861 only By 1854 Us. 4,500 had been spent three more had been l>nilt. on, or sanctioned for. tlip Ijridle-path, but it was apparently still A mile of road liad also been cut througli the in wretched order. Kodai-kanal by tlie missionaries and six uiorc niiles had been made
;

Much correspondence took place residents. terms on wliichtho Governuiontslionld grant the land on which the houses stood, it was finally ordered that tlie rules for the Nilgiris should be applied and an annual cliarge of Rs. 5-4-0 bo
elsewhere

by other

regarding

tlie

made

for the first kani

(1"32 acres) occupied, and Rs.

2-8-U

for

'^52

MADURA.

CHAP. XV.
KoDAiKANAi-.

Eventually, most of the original grants were converted into freeholds. At present, it may here be noted, the rules in Board's Standing Order No. 21 apply to the grant of sites within the settlement and the sanction of Government is necessary to the sale of them.

every additional kani.

The first Governor of Madras to visit Kodaikanal as the place now began to be named in official correspondence was Sir Charles Trevelyan, who went up early in 1860 by the bridle-path from the minute recording his Tope. More suo, he wrote a delightful
'

'

which was Mr. Clarke's property.^ Lord Napier also went up later on, Napier Villa owes its name to in 1871, and tradition says that the fact that he stopped there.
impressions of the
still

hiLls.

He

stayed at Roseneath,

'

'

In 18<'0 Mr. Vere Henry Levinge was appointed Collector of Madura. He held the post untU 1867 and then retired to Kodaikanal, where he lived (at Panibar Plouse) until within a few wceka During this latter period he of his death at Madras in 1885. succeeded to tlie family baronetcy. Both as Collector and after
his retirement he took the greatest interest in the

station and,

just above most of the improvements in it are due to him. As has already been stated, he made the lake (mainly at his own expense) and he also completed the bridle-path from Feriyakulam, cut the path to Bambadi Shola along the southern crest
liis

as the inscription on the cross erected to

memory

Coaker's

Walk

relates,

of the plateau, constructed several roads

within the station

itself

and did much to introduce European

history of the growth of the sanitarium

fruits

and

flowers.

Neither time nor space permit of the inclusion here of any from that time forth to the
is

present, but the subject

notice of

one which

may be commended

to the

those

who have

greater knowledge and opportunities.

A few isolated facts may, however, be noted. In 1853 the American Mission had begun to build a church on their land near It was finished in 1856 and an arrangement was Sunnyside.' made by which the members of the Churcli of England should also have the use of it. Kound about it, a cemetery (now closedj was made. The earhest tomb in this, no doubt, is that of two children who died as early as 1849, but their bodies were removed to the cemetery from the grave near Mount Nebo in which they were The church was replaced in 1896 by the new originally buried. building near the Club, and shortly afterwards it fell down.
' ^

For this and other items

of interest, I

am

indebted to the Kev. J. E. Tracy'i

rtcollections of Kodaikanal in former d&ye.

GAZKTTJCBR.

258

In 1863 Father Saint Cyr (who was the first of the Homan CirAI'. XV. Catholic missionaries to appreciate Kodaikanal, and in 1860 had Kopaikanal-

bought Baynes' bungalow for

the existing

his

mission) laid the foundations of

Tlie site for the Cliurch of

Eoman

Catholic churcli.

to Bishop In the same year an estimate was sanctioned for the building of the deputy tahsildar's office. In 1900 the new European cemetery nr^ar the ghat patli from Shembaganur, the first thing which catches the eye of the visitor as he approaches this health resort, was finished. It is divided into sections for tlie

England place

of worship on

Moimt Nebo was granted

Caldwell in 1883.

use of the various denominations.

In October 1899 Kodaikanal, which was originally merely a

part of the village of Vilpatti and aft*^rwards had been

made

into a

Union, was constituted a municipality.

of all the

It

is

the least populous

its inhabitants at the 1901 This enumeration, however, was taken in March, before the influx of tbe hot weather visitors (a large proportion of whom belong to tlie various Christian missions in this and other districts) and their numerous following. The council's annual income averages only some Rs. 9,000, and no very striking undertakings have therefore been possible. The fate of the proposal to supply the place with water from the Pambar lias been referred to on p. 227.

Madras

municipalities,

census numbering only 1,91?.

Some two miles from the station, on a hill above tlie road to Pumbarai already mentioned, is the Observatory. Under tlie scheme for the re-organization of Indian observatories which came into operation in 1899, the chief work of the Madras Observatory was transferred to this place (which was found to be preferable to either Ootacamund or Kottagiri on account of its more equable temperature and greater freedom from mists) and the former Government Astronomer, Mr. Michie Smith, became Director of the Kodaikanal and Madras Observatories. Tlie appliances of the

new

institution are

now

directed to the prosecution of enquiry in

the sciences of terrestrial ir.agnetism, meteorology and seismolocry, to astronomical observations for the purpose of time-keeping, and,
chiefly, to the

important subject of solar physics.

300

MAT1T7HA

PALNI TALUK.

CHAP. XV.
Palni.

'j'fjjg

lifs in
it

tiie

nortli-west

corner of the district and 45

per

made up of zainindaris. It was formerly called the Aiyampalle taluk. Along the whole of its southern houndary run the Palni hills, and it slopes northwards away from these and is
cent, of
is

drained by the three parallel rivers Shanmuganadi, Nallatangi and Nanganji which flow down from their slopes. 'J'he wet land under the first of these is some of the best in the district and as much as 8 per cent, of the irrigated fields of the taluk are assessed as highly as Es. 7-8-0 and over per acre. Palni contains some patches of black soil, but red earth occupies a higher
proportion of
is
it

much

of

it infertile,

than of any other taluk except Melur. This land and nearly one-half of the dry fields are
little

and under per acre. Also, the than any other. Consequently in bad seasons it is poorly protected and it suffered severely in the great famine. In ordiuary years it is saved by its numerous wells, which water as much as nine per cent, of its irrigated area and the cultivation under which is carefully conducted, and only 9-gper cent, of the assessed land, a smaller figure than in any other taluk, is unoccupied. The chief crop is cholam, which is grown on nearly a third of the total cultivated area, and next come horse-gram and the smaller millets.
assessed at as
as 12 annas

taluk receives less

rain

Statistics

relating to

the taluk are given

of
its

in the separate
:

Appendix.

Below are accounts

sea,

chief

towns and villages

is a prominent height, 1,402 which rises abruptly from the surrounding country nine miles west of Palni and is crowned by a little shrine to Ganesa. The people say it was a resting-place of the five Pdndava brothers, and hence its name. Ou the north-east side the rock of which it consists overhangs and foiJii a natural shelter 160 feet long and 13 feet high. This has i^ow been bricked up and formed into shrines for such popular deities as Draupadi and but it was doubtless originally a Jain hermitage, for above so on it, on the face of the overhanging rock, in a long horizontal line about 30 feet from end to end and arranged in six groups, are cut sixteen representations of the Jain tirthankaras, each some eighteen inches high, which constitute the best preserved relic of

Aivarmalai,
above the

'the hill of the five,'

feet

GAZETTEER.
tte Jains in
tlii.s

301

district.

Some of
;

the tirtliankaras are standing,

CEAP. XV.
Pai-ni.

some have a hooded serpent above their heads, others one on either side some have the triple crown above their heads, others nothino- at all some are supported on eacli side by a
others are seated;
;

person bearing

chdmara

(Hj-whisk), olhers are unattended.

Round about them

been translated.

are cut several short Yatteluttu inscriptions,

parts of which are defaced

by

lamp-oil.

Tlie.i!e

have not so

f.-ir

Ayakkudi Four miles east of Palni. A union of 14,725 inhabitants and the chief village of the zamindari of the same
:

name.
Palni

This
hills,
is

latter,

which includes a considerable area on the the second largest in the district, and the pro-

prietor of

it is

also

owner

of the large estate of Kettayambddi.

^

According

to the traditions of his family

his original ancestor

Tottiyan zamindars of the distinct, see p. 106) quitted the northern Deccan in the fifteenth century and came south

(like those of other

Yijayanagar. There he was granted a pdlaiyam near the well-known temple of Ahobilam in the present Anantapur district, since when Ah6bilani (often corrupted into
into the territories of

Obila

'

and the
his

like)

has been a

common name

in the family.

One of

natha (p. appointed to the charge of one of the 72 bastions of the Madura fort. He built Palaya old') Ayakkudi, and Puda (' new') Ayakkudi was founded some time afterwards. His successors built forts and villages, cleared the forest, kept the wild elephants from molesting pilgrims to Palni, brought the Kalians and other
('

descendants accompanied the expedition of Visva41) to .Madura and was granted this estate and

marauding peoples to order, constructed tanks and temples, and accompanied the Nayakkans of Madura on their vaiions military
expeditions.

When
was
in

the

Company acquired

tlie

Dindigul province the estate

some way an appanage of the Palni pdlaiyam, and in 1 794 the two poligars were engaged in open hostilities. In 1795 Ayakkudi was ordered to be detached and separately assessed, and in consequence the Palni poligar openly rebelled and Ayakkudi began arming. The latter chief was eventually arrested and confined in the Dindigul fort. In 179G the estate was handed back to the family, and ten years later the then head of it purchased Rettayambadi at a sale for arrears of revenue.
Both
properties were included for
'

many

years

among

the

'unsettled pdlaiyams
^

of the district (see p. lOi).

vol. 42, 449,

They were

Mackenzie MSS., Local Records,

and

\Vil8on, 4i7.

302
CHAP. XV.
Palni.

MADTJKA.
of

managed by the Court

in

Wards from 1851

to 1860 during- the

minority of the then proprietor Janakirdma Ndyakkan.

He

died

18G8 and his paternal uncle, Muttakondama Nayakkan^ sucIn 1872 this man turned ascetic and resigned the ceeded. property to his eldest son, Ahobila Kondama. The next year this latter was granted a pernianeut sanad for this estate and for Uettayambadi. Thereafter, he rapidly fell deeply in debt and in
1879 he leased the property to the Chettis for nineteen years. but a son Later on he transferred the estates to a nephew (Ahobila Kondama Ndyakkan) who was subsequently born to him
;

contested the transfer in the courts and was eventually placed in The proppossession by a decree of the Privy Council in 1900.
erty has
^

since been

again mortgaged

(with possession) to a

Chetti.

The customs
the zamindar
is

at the succession of a

new

lieirare curious.

When

on his death-bed the heir is bathed and adorned with flowers and jewels, is taken to the dying man, and receives at He then goes in a prohis hands the insignia of ownership. cession with music and so on to a mantapam, where he holds a levee and is publicly pranounced the rightful successor. He is

any sign of

not permitted to see the corpse of his predecessor nor to exhibit grief at his death.

Idaiyankottai

Lies on the northern frontier of the taluk

and on the left bank of the Nangdnji some 21 miles

by road from Dindigul; population 3,044. In 1815 remains of its old fort, a construction about 200 yards square defended by sixteen bastions,
were
still

visible close to the river.

It

is

the chief village of the impartible zamindari of the same

name.

According

to the family traditions

among
came
to

the Mackenzie

MSS., the original ancestor

others of the zamindars of

of this family (like those of several

tliis

district)

Madura with
fort.

VisvanAtha

(p.

41) and for his services was granted this estate and

placed in charge of one of the bastions of the

history of the estate

Madura

The

the eighteenth century has already been

referred to on pp. 70 and 183, from which it will be seen that it escaped the numerous resumptions and restorations which were
its fellows, and was one of the four of the 26 palaiyams of Dindigul which were not under attachment at the time It formerly that the Company acquired that province in 1 790.

the usual lot of

belonged to the district of Aravakurichi in Coimbatore, and was added to Dindigul by Haiftir Ali.

In 1792 the then poligar gave the P'ngiish some trouble,

setting out to plunder in the Coimbatore district, and Mr. Hurdis

GAZETTEEE.

503
These were
CHAP. X7.
Palm.

wa5

oLlig'ed later

on to resume
'

tlie

estate for arrears.

afterwards paid, and the estate was restored.

'

Thereafter for

many

years it was one of the unsettled palaiyams of the district and it was not g'ranted a permanent sanad until 1871, when Muttu Venkat4dri Nayaldcan was the projirietor. This man died in 1872 and his son Lakshmipati followed him and held the estate until His son and heir was then a minor his death on 3rd October 1902. fourteen years old, and the estate was accordingly taken under the management of the Court of Wards, which is still administering it.

Kalayamuttur
road
;

Three miles west of Palni on the Udamalpet

population 5,491^.

In 1856, 63 gold coins of Augustus and other Eoman emperors were found in a small pot buried in the ground near the Shanmuganadi here. A mile west of the village, on the southern side of the road, are a few kistvaens of the usual kind and size in fair preservation, and there are eight more to the north of Chinnakalayamuttur, on either side of the road. These latter are propitiated by the villagers, especially in cases of difficult labour; they are daubed with the usual red and white streaks of paint and in front of them are some of the little swings which are so often placed before
^

shrines in gratitude for favours received.

Ten miles north of Palni Kiranur population 3,973. prosperous village lying in the valley of the Shanmuganadi and inhabited largely by Ravutans, who grow betel under the river
: ;

channel, trade with the Coimbatore district and keep several of the
It is an ancient place, and the inscriptions bazaars in Ootacamund. on the Siva temple to the east of it record grants by Ch6la kings who flourished as long ago as 1063 A.D.

A small impartible zamindari of only three on the northern frontier of the taluk 21 miles There is no village of the name. north-east of Palni.
Mambarai
which
:

villages

lies

According

to one of the

Mackenzie MSS., the original ancestor

narrated,

of the zamindar's family, about whose prodigious personal strength

several fabulous
talcs

an^

was granted the pdlaiyam

by Visvandtha Nayakkan (see p. 42 j and afterwards accompanied the later Ndyakkan ruler.s of Madura on several of their military
expeditions.

The

estate

once belonged to the Aravakuriclii district

of

Coimbatore, but was transferred by Haidar AH to Dindigul and formed one of the 2G pdlaiyams comprised in that province when it was acquired by the Company in 1790. Its history up to that
year has been referred to on pp. 70 and 183.
'

M.J.L.S., xvii,

lu.

304
CHAP. XV.
VAhST.

MADUBA.
it

Thereafter
pdlaiyaras
'

of the district,

remained for a long while one of the 'unsettled and it was not granted a permanent

sanad until ]87^.

The present

proprietor's

name

is

Venkatardma

Ndyakkan and he
of that year.

lives in Attapanpatti.

He

succeeded in 1888 on

the death of his father,

remained, until

Kumdra Kathirava Ndyakkan, in August As he was then only eight years old, the estate he attained his majority, under the management of

the Court of Wards.

Palni

Head-quarters of the taluk and a municipality of

17,168 inhabitants. The proposals which have been made regarding the improvement of the water-supply of the place are referred The town is loiown throughout the south of to in Chapter XIV.
the Presidency for
It
is

its

temple to Subrahmanya referred to below.

the head-quarters of the tahsildar and stationary sub-magis-

trate

and

of

sub-registrar,

and contains a

hospital,

several

chattrams, and a travellers' bungalow belonging to the

authorities.

It has always been

a great centre of trade

temple with

Coimbatore on the one side and the Palni Hills on the other.
one of the most charmingly situated places in all the 1 ,068 feet above the sea on the edge of the great Vydpuri tank and looking across this towards the mouths of the two largest valleys in the Palnis and the bold cliffs which separate them.
Palni
is

district,

standing

Framing the eastern

side of this beautiful prospect, rises the steep?

rocky hill (450 feet high) on the top of whi(!h is built the famous temple to Subrahmanya in his form Dandayudhapani, or the Round this hill runs a sandy road adorned bearer of the baton.'
'

at intervals with

many mantapams,

several of

which contain great

stone images of the peacock, the favourite vehicle of Subrahmanya.

Up it, is built
names and

a winding flight of stone steps on which are cut the

and which is flanked at and crowded in frequent intervals by mantapams and and down to the passing up pilgrims with typically oriental fashion ash, a few with holy gorgeous smeared temple, beggiug ascetics A story is told^ peacocks and many most impudent monkeys. about Queen Mangammdl of Aladura and these steps. One day when she was going up them, she came upon a young man who, She called out graciously to perceiving her, retreated in confusion. him Zrunkol ! or Pray wait !' and he and his sons' sons thereafter always took this word as their name. At night the path is lighted at intervals with lamps (a favourite form of showing devotion to the god is to maintain one of these for a certain period) and the effect from below is most picturesque.
footprints of

many

devotees,

lesser shrines,

''

Indian Antiquary,

x, 365.

GAZETTEER.
Arcliitecturally, tlie

305
is

building on the top of the rock

it

not

CHAP. XT.
Palni.

noteworthy, there being no sculpture in

ordinary.
shrine surrounded

which

is

above the

It consists of the usual outer wall enclosing a central

by

smaller buildings and entered from the west

by

a gateway beneath a brick

is

and

plaster

gopuram.

The best

reward for the climb

rich cultivation

the view of the great Palni Hills and the

Spread

like a praying-carpet at the foot

Of those

divinest altars.

The fading

of the evening light of a quiet October

day across
though very

the green rice-fields, the groves of palms and the vast, silent range

beyond is a memorable
fair to

sight.

The

belt

below the

hills,

the eye,

is

exceedingly malarious; and Aiyampalle (which

gave its name to this taluk) and Balasamudram (once the fort and residence of the poligar of Palni referred to later) are now entirely deserted, their fields being tilled by people who live in
of old

Palni and return

home every evening.

The

sthala furdna of Palni gives the widely

:

known legend

regarding the founding of this temple Agastya, the famous rishi, created the hill Sivagiri on which the shrine stands and the neighbouring, slightly lower, eminence now called Idumbanmalai did penance on them for some time and then went to Mount Kail^sa
; ;

to visit Siva.

the

home at the southern end of demon-servant Idumban to bring Idumban fixed them to either end of a these two hills thither. Ixdoadi (the pole by which burdens are slung acro.ss the shoulder) but when he began to lift them he found that Idumbanmalai went up in the air while Sivagiri remained immovable. Tliinking the latter must be too heavy lie put two big boulders (still to be seen) on the top of the former to make the balance better. Sivagiri, however, was still immovable, so he went to it to see what was
his return to his

On

Western

Grhats, he sent his

the matter.

to whichever of his

Meanwhile, on Mount Kailasa, Siva had offered a pomegranate two sons, Subrahmanya and Ganesa, could Subrahmanya mounted his travel round the world the quicker. peacock and set olf at a great pace, bnt Ganesa (whose elephanthead and portly figure handicapped him heavily in euch a contest) took thought and then walked slowly round his father and claimed that as Siva was all-in-all he had by so doing travelled round the world and won the fruit. Siva admitted his contention and gave him the pomegranate. Subrahmanya eventually completed his journey and was very wroth when he heard how he had been outwitted. His father attempted to console him ly saying Palani
39

'

306

MADUEA.
fruit,'

CHAP. XV
Palni.

'

thou art thyself a

(whence the name of this town)^ tut he

went angrilj away to Tiruvavinangudi (near the foot of Sivagiri, where there is now a considerable temple) and later on to Sivagiri
itself.

When Idumban went to this hill to see why it would not move, Subrahmanya was there and was much annoyed at being disturbed. He accordingly slew Idumban. Agastya, however, hurried up and at his intercession the god restored the demon-servant to life and
promised that in future the first worship on the Jiill should always be performed to him. This is still done at the little temple to Idumban which stands about half way up the steps leading to the

top of Sivagiri.

This story in the sthala purdna explains why pilgrims to this Palni temple very generally bring with them a Mvadi on their The custom has since, however, been copied at many shoulders. The tale also shows, what is in other shrines to Subrahmanya.
that

other ways clear, that the Tiruvavinangudi temple is older than This latter is, indeed, a comparatively on Sivagiri.

modern

erection.

MS.

in the

Mackenzie

collection,

which

is

confirmed by local accounts, states that a Canarese non-Brahman Udaiyar first set up a small shrine on Sivagiri, and that for some time he conducted the worship in it. Eventually, in the time of Tirumala Nayakkan, he was induced by that ruler's general

Ramappayya, who

visited this town, to

hand over

to the

Brahmans

the actual performance of the puja, and was given in return certain duties of superintendence and a right to receive certain annual

presents and to shoot

Dasara festival, the arrow which symbolises Subrahmanya' s victory over Idumban. His descendants have ever since performed this rite. Many of them are buried at the foot of the steps leading up to the hill. The present heir of the family, Bhoganatha Pulippani Patra Udaiyar, is a minor.
off,

at the

The Tiruvavinangudi shrine is now being completely rebuilt by the Chettis, and the new sculpture in it, executed in the finegrained granite quarried on Idumbanmalai,
also
is

excellent.

There

is

good modern stone-work in the Siva temple in the middle of the town itself, but much of this has been pitiably defaced by the greasy oblations which have been poured over it.
Pilgrims come to the shrine on Sivagiri from all over the Presidency and especially from the West Coast. As has been Milk and other offersaid, they usually bring kdvadis with them. ings are carried in sealed vessels on either end of these, and the former is duly poured over the god's image. Fanciful stories are current telling how the milk keeps sweet for days and weeks on the

GAZETTEER.

307
OflAP. XV.
Palni.

journey when "brought for this sacred purpose, and how fish cooked for the god when the pilgrim sets out leap alive from the sealed vessels when thej are opened for the first time before the shrine.
Messrs. Turnbull and Keys'
that in those days
if

Survey Account of 1815-16 says the Tiilk and so on brought up in the sealed kdradts were foundlnot to be fresh, it was held to be a sign of the impiety of the pilgrim, who was expected to atone by Penances are still in fashion at the shrine. severe bodily penance. mouth-lock for Pilgrims occasionally take a vow to wear a

by any chance

'

'

several days before going to the temple.

of a piece of silver wire

This instrument consists

which is driven through both cheeks, passes through the mouth and is fastened outside, in fi-ont of the face. Another similar ordeal consists in passing a small skewer through the tip of the tongue.
Curiously enough,

Musalmans

also believe in the eflScacy of

to

prayer to

this

shrine.

Kavutans go

the

little

door at the

back
the

(east) of it

and make

their intercessions

and

offer

sugar in

mantapam immediately inside this. They explain their action by saying that a Musalman fakir, called Palni Bava, is buried
within the shrine.
Palni was formerly the same name which was one
capital of

an extensive estate of the

of the 26 palaiyams included in the

Dindigul province at the time of its acquisition by the Company in 1790. According to one of the Mackenzie MSS.,^ the original founder of the family was a relation of the ancestor of the Ayakkudi poligar and came with him from Ahobilam in Anantapur. Sinnoba (/.e., Chinna Ahobilam) is a name of He was given an estate by frequent occurrence in the family. Visvanatha Nayakkan and put in charge of one of the 72 bastions He founded the fort of B^lasamudram, just south of of Madura. Palni, which was thereafter the residence of the family, and he and his successors did much for the extension of the Palni temple and
'

'

the improvement of the country.

The more

recent history of

the

palaiyam has already been referred to on pp. 70 and 183 During his expedition of 1755 Haidar Ali plundered above. it of everything valuable and compelled its owner (who had fled) After the British to agree to pay a fine of 1,75,000 chakrams. took the country the then poligar, Velayudha Nayakkan, gave a great deal of trouble. In 1792 he was plundering in the Coimbatore in 1794 he was engaged in open hostilities with his district
;

neighbour Ayakkudi, who was in some way dependent upon him and in the next year he took umbrage at a proposal of Government
;

Local }tecoid8, vol. 42, 499, aud Wilson, 417.

308
CHAP. XV. to
Pai.ni.

MADURA.

detacli this latter estate

and assess it

separately,

and was reported

to

have armed 1,000 men and to be marching on Bodinayakkanur. On the 7th October 1795 Captain Oliver surprised and captured him in his fort at Balasamudram and the achievement was considered of such importance that Oliver and his detachment were
;

thanked in general orders and the jemadar of the party was promoted and given a gold medal inscribed Courage and Fidelity. By Grovernment, 7th October 1795.' ^
'

A week later
an indignant

the poligar, nothing abashed, wrote the Collector

complaining that Captain Oliver had attacked, wounded and confined him, just because he wouldn't pay his reshkash. In November, however, the Collector was warned that a plan was afoot to kidnap him and keep him in confinement as in December Captain Oliver hostage for Yelayudha's release
letter
9.
;

reported that the poligar's Aiyangar pradhani (chief minister) had attacked him in Palni with 800 men and in the next month
'

'

be driven off by a force from Dindigul under In 1796 the estate was forfeited for this rebelColonel Cnppage. lion, and Vela yudha was confined on the Dindigul rock and subsequently deported to Madras, where he eventually died. But as late as 1799 Yirupakshi, Kannivadi and other poligars were conspiring to reinstate his son, Yyapuri, as chief of Palni.
this

man had

to

Kettayambadi

zamindari lying to the west of Palni

town and including a considerable area on the slopes of Palni hills. According to one of the Mackenzie MSS.^, the original founder
of the family

(who were Tottiyans by

caste) fled (with the ancestors

of the Palui and Ayakkudi poligars) from the Musalmans of the north, because these wanted to marry the girls of his caste, and took service under the Vijayanagar kings. Like the founders of

other zamindaris in this district, he afterwards accompanied Visvanatha on his expedition against Madura and for his services was

granted an estate. Plis son did much for the temple on Aivarmalai above mentioned^ clearing the way up to it, establishing a waterpandal for the refreshment of pilgrims and granting the inam His (still in existence) for the upkeep of the worship in it.
successors built Old Eettayambadi

and

New

Hettayambadi

(to

the south of Pappanpatti), both of which have now disappeared. The later history of the estate has [already been referred to on It was in some way dependent upon the Palni palaiyam p. 183. and in 1795 it was paying an annual tribute to the poligar
thereof.

When
^

Palni was forfeited for rebellion in 1796,

ii,

it

was

Wilson's History of the Madras Army, No. 17-5-52.

249.

QAZETTEEH.
accordingly placed under
years later
it
it

309
ot'

ilie

nianageniont

tlie

Collector.

Ten

cilAT. X'
Palni.

escheated for failure of heirs (other accounts say

for arrears)

and was sold. It was hought by the then poligar of Ayakkudi and still belong's to his descendants. But, like the rest of his property, it has now been leased to the A permanent sanad for it was granted in 1873. Ohettis.
village of 4,224 inhabitants lying about ten miles which gives its name to a small zamindari which was granted a permanent sanad in November 1871 but, since it was not in existence prior to the passing of Regulation XXY of 1802, has not been scheduled as impartible and inalienable in the Madras Impartible Estates Act, 1904. The present owner of the estate, whose name is Pcrumal Nayakkan, lives in Sattirapatti (a hamlet of Velur which contains a sub-registrar's office, a chattram and a bungalow belonging to the zamindar in which travellers are permitted to halt) and is commonly known in consequence as
:

was resumed

V61lir

east of Palni,

'

the

Sattirapatti zamindar.'

The

history of

the property
it

lias

already been
for

arrears

referred to on pp. 195-6. In 1806 and was bought by tlie ancestor of

was sold

the present

holder.

Virupakshi
the Nangdnji
;

Lies

13 miles east ot
1,911.
It

Palni on

tlie

bank of

population
district,

possesses

the biggest

weekly market in the

Palnis flocking to
it

in large

people from the adjoining Lower numbers and exchanging the produce

of their villages for the necessaries whicli the hill country does
is the Forest rest-house, and Karuppan which is equipped with even more than the usual number of pottery horses, etc., and

not provide.

Adjoining the market

stands a shrine to

in front

of this

wooden swings. Close by, a road two miles long leads to the foot and from the end of this a much-used path runs up Another path the slopes to Pachalur and other hill villages. branches oft' to tlie two falls of the Nauganji [Kil tahkuttu and Mel tahkuttu, as they arc called) the upper of which is so prominent from the main road to Palni. They are worth seeing. The lower one is only some 30 feet high, but the force of the water flowing over it is strikingly indicated by the big pot-holes on its brow and the deep pool below. Eound about it are several little ruined temples to the seveu Kannimdr (virgin goddesses) and other deities, which are almost overgrown, now, with jungle.
of

of the Palnis

turned into a channel ingeniously carried, by blasting and walling, along the steep side of the hill and Alongside this cliaunel runs the thence to the Perumalkulam. path to the higher fall. This is a wild spot. The river winds
it,

Above

the river

is

310
CHAP. XV. down a deep wooded
Palni.

MADURA.
cleft in the

great

hills

and

at length tumbles

over a sheer
rock pool.

cliff

of solid rock 150 feet high into a very

cliff

deep
oddly

The

consists of a black stone

which

is

marbled with white streaks, has been curiously chiselled in several

places by the great force of the water, and the clefts in which are Beneath it, are tenanted- by many wild bees and blue pigeons.

more rocks, marbled in several colours and worn to a glassy smoothness by the river. Even when little water is passing over it, this fall is worth a visit and when the Nanganji is in flood the As the only good path leads up scene must be most impressive. the bed of the river, it would not then however, be an easy place
to approach.

Virupakshi was once the chief village of one of the 26 palaiyams which made up the Dindigul province when it came into the
possession of the

Company

in 1790.

The ruins

of the

'

palace

'

of

the old poligars

may

still

be seen to the east of the road already

mentioned which runs to the foot of the hills. Captain Ward's Survey Account and one of the Mackenzie MSS.^ give the early The founder of it was one of the Tottiyans history of their family. in the circumstances already narrated on Vijayauagar who fled to came to Madura with Visvanatha's expedition, and above, p. 106 for his an estate services. A later head of the family granted was assisted Tirumala Nayakkan of Madura against the Musalmans and was granted the following assortment of rewards, which compares oddly with the unsubstantial honours accorded to An ornament for the turban a singlepresent-day warriors leaved golden torie or diadem a necklace worn by warriors a golden bangle for the right leg a chain of gold a toe-ring of gold a palanquin with a lion's face in front an elephant with a camel with a pair of naggars of metal a a howdah or castle horse with all its caparisons a day torch a white ensign a white umbrella an ensign with the representation of a boar a
'
:

green parasol

white handkerchiefs to be waved

white fleecy

flapping sticks/

Another of the line had a vision telling him that the pool below the Kil talakuitu was a favourite bathing-place of the seven Kannimar, and so he bailt the shi'ine to them there. He also made the Perumalkulam^ and doubtless the ingenious channel to it already mentioned. His descendants founded Pachalur and other villages on the hills and effected many similar improvements.
^

Local Records, vol. 42, 495, and Wilson, 417.

GAZETTEER.
[n 1755

311

Haidar attacked the place because the poligar was and imposed a fine of 75,000 chakrams upon it. The later liistorj of the estate has already been referred to on pp. 70 and 183. Narrated in detail, it would be found to consist chiefly of resistance to the authorities and
in arrears with his tribute,

CHAP. XV.
Palni.

After the Company country the poligar, Kuppala Nayakkan, grew particularly contumacious. In 1795 he claimed possession of
obtained
the

quarrels with the neighbouring palaiyams.

Kannivadi, the owner of which had just then died, and rejected the Collector's customary presents and barred his march into this

The next year he annexed 22 villages to which part of the country. he had no right. With the weakness which characterised its dealings with the poligars in those days. Government not only did not punish him for this, but actually said he might keep the mesne profits up to the date when he (at last) handed them back. This leniency did not cause him to mend his ways and in 1801 Colonel Innes, who then commanded at Dindigul, had to march against him in force.^ On the 21st March Virupakshi and two adjoining strongholds were taken without loss and the poligar fled. On the 27th his horses, baggage and elephants were seized at Vadakadu (on the hills to tlie east of Virupakshi) and on the 4th May he himself was captured. Ward's Survey Account says that he and his accomplices were hanged on a low hill near Devadanapatti (7 miles east of Periyakulam) on gibbets the remains of which were still visible at the time when he wrote (1821). The Mackenzie MSS. say the hanging took place in Virupakshi and that 22 members of the family were confined on the Dindigul rock. The palaiyam was forfeited. Some descendants of the poligar still draw an allowance from Grovernment.
'

History of Madras Army, Hi, 30-2.