Arittapatti and its powerful History! Chief Minister Stalin saves 2200 years of tradition

Chennai: Madhurai is one of the oldest cities, the city that has sweetness in its name as referred to in the poems by the famous writer Mahakavi Bharathi 'Then Madhura Thamizhosai' which means 'sweet thamizh'.

The Tamil literature calls this place in different names such as Maduraiyampathi, Koodal Nagar and Kadambavanam. The hills found in this town have supported the cultural traces of the Tamils for almost 2500 years.

The Government of Tamil Nadu has declared a total area of 193.215 hectares covering Arittapatti and Meenakshipuram near Melur in Madurai District as biodiversity sensitive areas. It is to be noted that this is the first biodiversity heritage site in Tamil Nadu.

The question may be raised, 'Why is it only Arittapatti?' What is special about this place?

"It was in Madurai that samanam first set foot. They came from the north, but Madurai was the natural land suitable for them. The 2000-year-old samanam history revolves around Madurai. There is nowhere else," says S. Santhalingam, a retired archeologist.

Breathtaking Arittapatti!

There are 72 lakes with water sources adjacent to a series of seven Hills in Arittapatti which have aged by time. There are 200 natural spring ponds and The 'Anaikondan Lake', which covers all this, was built during the reign of the Pandyas in the 16th century.

Even more surprising is that no matter how much the summer heats in Madurai, the water in the lakes here does not dry. Due to the richness of the natural environment, 250 or more species of birds live here.

The list of birds consists most importantly of the three species namely Lagar Rasali, Shaheen Rasali and Rasali Hawk. Arittapatti is also a land of vitality suitable for wildlife such as manis crassicaudata, python molurus and a rare species of Loris.

That is why the government refers to the place as a 'biodiversity zone'. According to a government order issued by the Government of Tamil Nadu, biodiversity heritage sites are areas of ecological importance. It has been set up for the purpose of protecting coastal and locally located water bodies, biodiversity plants, as well as habitats of species of fauna.

"The beautiful lotus tank at Arittapatti is a wonderful platform that brings the epic era to the fore. Only those who have experienced it in person know," says local writer N Murugesa Pandian.

"Apart from the rare creatures here, Arittapatti is also the mother land of Jainism," says S. Santhalingam, an archaeologist and author of the treatise 'Jainism in Madurai'. There are various Jain sculptures in this town. Moreover, there are Jain beds which are rare in the world. The Tamil Brahmi and Vattezhuthu inscriptions are still preserved even today.

Apart from these, there are 2200-year-old cave temples. The area is thus a repository of history and is no less than a list of glories. It was because of this that the Tamil Nadu government issued the notification. Seeing this, the people of Arittapatti were happy about the notification and celebrated with joy by distributing sweets.

Like them, Madurai MP and writer Su Venkatesan is as happy as they are. He also posted on Twitter welcoming the government's announcement.

Especially Arittapatti!

To find out more interesting facts about the history of Aritapatti we spoke to researcher S. Shanthalingam.

" Chief Minister Stalin has accomplished the dream of Madurai for 20years. The historical monuments in the region will henceforth be protected from anti-social elements. Therefore, we see this announcement as very important.

Arittapatti is a Jain land and has 2 Tamil Brahmi inscriptions that are almost 2200 years old. Jain monks lived in the mountain caves in this town. We can see the traces of these even today.

The 'Jaina beds' that they set up still exist. It functioned as a school at that time. From the Brahmi inscription here, we can know that 'Nelveli Sazhivan Adhinan Veliyan' created this marriage school.

Subsequently, in the 7th century, the Pandyas built a caved shiva temple. This is a temple built by digging a mountain. The most important thing is that the idol of Laguleesar is erected by Lord Shiva and Lord Vinayaka. This is a section of the Lagulisa Pasupada. 'Cow' means life. It means 'the lord of living beings'. References to this have been found even in the Indus Valley Civilization.

The best sculpture is in Arittapatti apart from that there is a statue of Laguleesar at Perur in Coimbatore, pudukkottai and Thevar malai.

There is a 7th century sculpture of Mahavira at Arittapatti where we can find the word 'Thiruppanaiyan Malai' inscribed in it. The people of the region call it 'Kalinjan Malai'. In the inscription, it is written as 'Thirumeni made by the priest's devotees'. 'Pathirikudi' is the old name of Arittapatti.

Under the arrangement of the authorities, a Jain monk named Achanandi made the sculpture for Mahavira. According to the inscription, the people of the village had promised that it would be protected from breaking.

Stalin's Move will be saving the tradition of 2000 years

The Shiva temple, built during the time of Vikrama Pandian in the 13th century, is now extinct; only its foundation remains. The inscription here mentions 'Vikrama Pandian Peruntheru'. It turns out that it was a 'marketplace' at that time.

Thirumalai Naicker gave a copper plate to this town. It was a copper plate given to a man to live with the help of the people of the town in those days. This happened in the 18th century. In that sense, Arittapatti has a continuous history of over 2,000 years," says Santhalingam.

He worked as an archeologist in Madurai from 1990 to 2007. He has spent nearly 17 years exploring the town. At that time, he had made efforts to declare it a historical monument. But none of those efforts have worked out.

The demand put forward by thousands of people like him has been given complete success by Chief Minister Stalin. M.K.Stalin has been prominently working towards Tamil culture and this will be included in the list.