Poigaikaraipatti, a small hamlet at the foothills of Alagar koil woke up to its long forgotten history last Sunday, when archaeologists and history enthusiasts deciphered age-old inscriptions found around the famous temple tank situated at the heart of the village. The tank which has a perimeter of two kilometres contains a quaint little mandapam standing in the centre. A flight of stone steps lead to the muddy water collected inside the square-shaped structure constructed during the Vijayanagara reign. With the majestic Alagar hill, the feeding source to the tank, forming a green backdrop to the setting, the sight is to behold.
Every February, during the Masi Thiruvizha, Lord Kallazhagar is brought down to the Poigaikaraipatti tank for the float festival. “Float festivals were popularised by the Nayak kings. Earlier, the tank must have been a poigai (small natural pond), from which the village gets its name,” observes Dr. V. Vedachalam, retd., Archaeological Officer, who recently discovered an 800-year-old inscription on the southern bank of the tank. The stone inscription belonging to the later-Pandya period talks about the existence of a beautiful garden with flowering plants surrounding the water body. It refers to one Manjakudaiyan Uyyavandan Thirunoku Alagiyan Thondaiman from Pudukottai who designed the garden. “Three more inscriptions were found earlier on the other sides of the tank. They state that there were gardens on all sides of the tank and were donated by different people from various kingdoms,” says Vedachalam. Today, except a few Banyan trees, the banks of the tank are glaringly dry and bare.
History lovers state that the idea behind construction of temple tanks was also to save water and nurture environment apart from religious purposes. “Since Alagar koil has thick forests and received good rainfall, the Vijayanagara kings must have modified what was once a natural pond into an elaborate temple tank,” says Vedachalam, noting that the tank resembles the Vandiyur Teppakulam in the design and structure. However, villagers of Poigaikaraipatti rue the encroachment and blockage of channels that lead rain water from the hill to the tank.
Members of DHAN Foundation which organised the Heritage walk in association with INTACH and Madurai Travel Club came forward to develop gardens around the tank with the help of the villagers. “We will assist the village panchayat in all ways to bring back water from the hill and to redevelop the lost gardens,” says Vasimalai, executive director of DHAN Foundation. “Also to make the villagers aware of the historical importance, we will be coming out with a small handbook with pictures that can be introduced as learning material at the middle school in the village.”
Poigaikaraipatti also has another part of history hidden inside a private farmland. A three-foot long stone inscription belonging to the time of later-Pandya king Maravarman Sundarapandian dating to 1307 A.D. is found half-buried at a maize field. The Tamil inscription refers to a meeting held by the Kammalas who lived in one part of the village called as ‘Pavithra Manickapuram’. It further hails one Vembitrur Sundarathol Nambi who guarded the village. “The region around Alagar koil is mentioned as ‘Keezh Iranyapuram’ in historical inscriptions. It’s said that the Sangam age poet Perungundranar belongs to the area,” adds Vedachalam.
During the walk, Vedachalam also demonstrated how to take paper-ink impressions of stone inscriptions without damaging the structure. He also deciphered the letters written in old Tamil font. “Though the first line ‘Swasthi Sri’ is inscribed in Grantha script, the rest are in Tamil,” he says. “All the four inscriptions found around the tank have the motif of ‘poorna kumbham’ as a symbol of auspiciousness.”
