Seeyamangalam is a small village in Vandavasi taluk in Tiruvannamalai district in the state of Tamil Nadu. The major occupation of the people living at this place is agriculture. , it had a population of 1665.
Etymology
The name "Seeyamangalam" might have evolved from the older name of this village "Simhavishnu Chaturvedi Mangalam" () named after the Pallava king,
Simhavishnu, father of
Mahendravarman I.
Another possibility is that it might have derived from the name "Simhamangalam" () named after Pallava king Narasimhavarman I.
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Location
Seeyamangalam is located southwest of
Vandavasi, southeast of
Chettupattu and northeast of district headquarters
Tiruvannamalai.
Transportation
From
Vandavasi, town buses No:144, to
Gingee and No: W2 to Magamaai Thirumeni go through Seeyamangalam. One private bus named V.M. from
Desur to
Gingee also go through Seeyamangalam. However, frequency of buses to this village is less. Hiring auto from
Desur is a good option to reach.
About the village
Seeyamangalam village has more than 1500 years old heritage. It has two historically important rock cut cave temples, 7th century C.E. Rock cut Shiva Temple and 9th century C.E. rock cut
Jain temple. Famous Buddhist Acharya and Philosopher
(6th century C.E.) was believed to be born in Seeyamangalam.
[Mayilai. Seeni. Venkadasamy, Bouthamum Tamilum, pp.102, Paavai Publications, 2007,Chennai]
Rock Cut Shiva Temple
This rock cut Shiva temple, Avanibhajana Pallaveshwaram Temple was built by
Mahendravarman I in 7th century C.E. The main deity Shiva, is called here as Thoon Andar in
Tamil language () and Stambeshwara in
Sanskrit. "Thoon" means pillar and "Andar" refers Lord and hence thoon andar means Lord of Pillars. This name is because of the presence of two pillars in front of this cave temple. Two
dvarapalas are located on the either side of the entrance of Sanctum sanctorum of the shrine. The interesting feature of these
dvarapalas is the presence of trisula prongs in them. Unlike other temples, here the main deity Thun Andar is facing the west direction. Lord Shiva was carved in the temple pillars as
and Vrishbhantika. This is the first temple in
Tamil Nadu having the image of Lord
.
Also, the dwarf
Apasmara is missing from the
image.
This temple was renovated and extended by various kings as it is evident from the presence of various inscriptions in Tamil script and Grantha script characters by Pallava dynasty, Chola and Vijayanagara empires.
Rock Cut Jain Temple
This rock cut Jain temple was built by Western Ganga King
Rachamalla II during the end of 9th century. This temple is seen in a hillock named Vijayadri (as per inscription of Rajamalla II) located northern side of Thun Andar Shiva temple. Inside the rock cut, recently a new
Mahavira statue is kept and worshipped by nearby
Tamil Jains. On the top of the rock facing east, relief sculptures of Mahaveerar, Parshavanthar and Bahubali are seen.
On the either side of
Bahubali, his sisters Brahmi and Saundari are seen. On the top, left side of Bahubali,
Indra sitting on elephant and right side, two
Gandharvas are seen. The left hand of the Bahubali was damaged. The head of
Parshva is surrounded by five headed snake. The left and right side of
Parshva, his attendants
Alamelu and Daranendran can be seen.
[Dr. Ekambaranathan, Thondai Naattu Samana Kovilkal, Jain Youth Forum, Chennai] Both the images of
Bahubali and
Parshva were carved in standing posture. The image of
Mahavira, sitting in
Sukhasana position on a
Simhasana with his attendants on either side is seen at the extreme southern direction.
Though many people visit Rock Cut Shiva temple, they are often unaware of this rock cut Jain temple.
Jain Inscriptions
There are two inscriptions found in this hillock.
[P. Venkatesan, The Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India, Volume 11, pp.21-24, 1984, The epigraphical society of India, Dharwar.] First one is seen near to relief sculptures (right side of
Mahavira) and it was engraved in Grantha script and Sanskrit language. It is a mixture of prose and poetry. It explains that Rajamalla established two temples for
Jinaraja in Vidyadri (hillock) in Saka 815 (892-93 A.D). It also explains
Arunkal-anvaya (school of Jain Monks), which was adorned by illustrious pontiffs, who had successfully crossed the vast expanse of the sea of knowledge of all the sciences, belonged to
Nandi Sanga of
Jinendra Sanga. Though the inscription mentions two temples, the second one is not yet found.
The second inscription which was engraved in Tamil (Tamil portion, prose) and Grantha (Sanskrit portion, poetry) characters, located at the foot of the hillock in the northern side of the temple. The Sanskrit portion explains the exaltation to the Arunkal-anvaya belonging to the Nandi Sanga of Dravida Sanga. The Tamil portion records that Vajranandhi-Yogindrar, the disciple of Gunaviradevar who was the Mandalacharya of Arunkal-anvaya caused to be constructed a flight of steps. These steps (see the picture gallery) are still in good condition.
Rajamalla II had built another Jain rock cut temple in Vallimalai in Vellore district during the same 9th century C.E. This leads to the conclusion that some parts of northern Tamil Nadu was under the rule of this Western Ganga King Rajamalla II.
==Picture gallery==
Satellite picture Location
See also
-
Vallimalai Jain caves
-
Jainism in Tamil Nadu
External links
