Heritage trail helps people delve into ancient temples’ history

Coimbatore: The heritage trail that was organized as part of Kovai Gethu Day celebrations left a group of around 15 people in awe as historian C R Elangovan took them to Sugreeswarar Temple and Avinashilingeswarar Temple in Tirupur on Sunday. As the historian explained the significance of an inscription on the stone walls of the around 900-year-old Sugreeswarar Temple at Sarkar Periyapalayam in Tirupur, history unfurled before the participants’ eyes. The inscription, he said, was a document of one of the earliest forms of what could be called a corporate social responsibility initiative by a trading guild.
The inscription speaks of how the members of a trading guild had come together to fund the maintenance of the temple. Elangovan said the location where the temple is situated had once been a bustling trade route.

“The Kongu region was ruled by small chieftains for long as there was no farming in the area but only cattle rearing. There are records for beryl stones being traded to Rome from here,” Elangovan said. The area was a trading hub, as it lies in the centre of the routes to Mysuru, Kochi, Thanjavur and Madurai. “As this was a trading route and people from various places congregated here, a temple was built here,” he said.

The temple was built in the period of Kongu Cholas, who ruled the region from 1,000AD to 1,300AD, he said. The earlier name of the temple was Kurakkuthali, which means the place where a monkey worshipped. The temple has a bas-relief sculpture showing a monkey worshipping Lord Shiva. This might have given rise to the legend that the monkey was Sugreeva from Ramayana and thus the temple came to be known as Sugreeswarar Temple, Elangovan said.

The trail then went on to the Avinashilingeswarar Temple in Avinashi, where Elangovan explained various styles present in the temple’s architecture. There are records for Sundaramurti Nayanar, an eighth century Shaivite saint, visiting the region, he said. While the temple was a small structure initially, it was expanded by later rulers. “The temple features architectural styles of Chola, Kongu Chola, Pandya, Vijayanagara and Mysuru rulers,” he said.

While the temple’s main portion is in Kongu Chola style, the entrance is in Pandya style, he said. While like in Pandya temples the shrine of the goddess lies on the right of Shiva’s shrine, the pillars in front the Nataraja shrine in the temple are in Hoysala style, he said. It is one of the biggest temples in the state and its temple car is the second largest after the one at Tiruvarur temple, he said. “Avinashi also had been a trading centre 2,000 years ago. Beryl stones were traded with the Romans. In an excavation, Roman jars and coins were found in the region,” he said.

Participants said the trail was a learning experience. “This is the first time I have been on such a trail. While I have heard about the Avinashi Temple, I got to learn about its history. The event also helped me know about the Sugreeswarar Temple,” said Saroja Gopalakrishnan.