While former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa’s Mysuru and Srirangam connection is very much common knowledge, not many seem to know that Sakkaravalanallur, a remote village near the coastal Devipattinam in the district, has links with her as her ancestors were natives of the hamlet.
The village came to limelight a couple of months ago when AIADMK leaders performed a special puja at the Perumal temple there, believed to be the ‘family temple’ of Jayalalithaa, for her speedy recovery.
Local MP A. Anwar Raja, who organised the puja along with Minister for Information Technology M. Manikandan, said Jayalalithaa’s maternal great grandmother and other ancestors lived in the village before migrating to Devipattinam and later to Srirangam.
“As Amma’s ancestors lived in the village and offered worship at the ancient Perumal temple, we performed the special puja there,” Mr. Anwar Raja told The Hindu on Tuesday.
On learning that her ancestors lived in the village before migrating and settling in Devipattinam, Jayalalithaa built a noon meal centre at Devipattinam in memory of her mother Vedavalli at a cost of about Rs. 1.25 lakh using her own funds.
Jayalalithaa built the centre in 1983 after her mentor,, former Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran, appointed her as the AIADMK’s propaganda secretary and deputed her to monitor the functioning of the noon meal centres across Tamil Nadu.
She herself inaugurated the centre and distributed food to children. She flew down to Madurai and reached Devipattinam by road, Mr. Anwar Raja recalled.
The then Minister for noon meal ‘Tiruchi’ Soundararajan and Rehabilitation Minister T. Ramasamy, who hailed from the district, , were among those present at the function, he said.
