Tiruvottiyur town, now part of the Chennai Corporation, once went by the name Aadhi puri (ancient town).
Activities in the town mostly revolved around the Sri Thygarajaswamy temple, famously called Sri Vadivudaiamman temple. The town, after it was merged in 2014 with the Corporation, has seen several civic improvements like better roads, stormwater drains and a new sewer network.
While the old residents welcome the civic developments, they find the old charm of the town slowly losing to increasing commercial activities. Even the ancientness of the temple, etched in its inscriptions, would have been lost, if not for the timely action of the devotees to stop its “renovation”.
Ma. Ki. Ramanan, a Tamil scholar, came to and settled in Tiruvottiyur some 40 years ago because of the spiritual connections the town has had with great saints like Thirugnanasambandar, Thirunavukkarasar, Sundarar and Pattinathar.
An ancient town
“The town, where Samaveda was taught, is soaked in saivite history, with Ramalinga Adigalar staying in the town for more than 20 years,” said Mr. Ramanan, a recipient of the Best Teacher Award from the State government.
Mr. Ramanan, speaking about the ancientness of Chennai and its neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu and Kancheepuram, said the place was called Thondainadu, with Tiruvottiyur finding a prominent place in it.
Mr. Ramanan said: “The South Indian Inscriptions has even published a book in five volumes about Tiruvottiyur and the stone inscriptions in the temple.”
Citing the presence of a number of odais (streams) in the town, he rued that commercial development had left these odais to be converted into houses with the Odai Kuppam being an example of the rampant encroachment of the waterbodies.
