The Kalingarayar canal measuring 90 kilometres was constructed in the year 1282 A.D by Lingaiyan of Kongunad. He ruled from Vellode and was on good terms with the Pandyan monarch. The service minded king decided to move over to a place near Pollachi in order to ensure that the waters of the canal constructed were not used by his family.
The Kalingarayar canal measuring 90 kilometres was constructed in the year 1282 A.D by Lingaiyan of Kongunad. He ruled from Vellode and was on good terms with the Pandyan monarch. The service minded king decided to move over to a place near Pollachi in order to ensure that the waters of the canal constructed were not used by his family. He moved over to Anamallai, cleared the forests and established his capital Uthukuli thereafter. The 'Rayar' title was conferred by the rulers of Vijayanagar and Kongunad had thus far witnessed the participation of 37 generations of Kalingarayars in public life. The Kalingarayars of Uthukuli had a vast army which consisted of 10,000 soldiers in addition to cavalry and elephant corps. They served as the feudatories of the Vijayanagar Empire by being part of a 3 tier monarchy - The Emperor at Hampi was the supreme in the heirarchy, the Naick of Madurai was his representative while rulers like the Kalingarayars were the local rulers known as Palayakkarars or Polygars. Over the centuries the Kalingarayars administered along side the Cholas, Pandyas, the rulers of Vijayanagar, the Naicks of Madurai, the Wodeyars of Mysore and the British. The ancient palace at Uthukuli and the Kalingarayar canal have stood the test of time. The snake like meandering canal connects the rivers Bhavani and Noyyal. This serves over 15,000 acres of farm lands and Kalingarayar was a national pioneer who had linked rivers over 725 years ago.
The recently launched websites http://www.kalingarayar.org and http://www.kalingarayar.com share a lot of facts about the legacy of the Kalingarayars. Siddharth A.M.R.Kalingarayar, the Founder of this novel initiative spoke at length about the same, "A number of royal families from the north are featured in coffee table books and their residences are part of heritage initiatives. Tamilnadu is known for its temples and royal heritage from time immemorial. We felt that it would be good if we could take our heritage forward through this dynamic website. Heritage enthusiasts from around the world have been visiting Uthukuli over the years and they want to know more about our family and also about our connect with the national heritage. I decided to create a web platform for it can be updated on an ongoing basis and it can be accessed from any part of the world. We identified Fibroin Technologies promoted by Brijesh and Saravanan to execute the job and now the website is fully functional."
The people and rulers of Tamilnadu are known for using water effectively. The methods used by the rulers have added to the grannaries of the region and the food security made the people rich, cultured and successful. The contributors have been celebrated and recognised time and again. Sunday, the 13th of May 2018, witnessed the dedication of the Mani Mandapam and a seven feet tall bronze statue of Kalingarayar by the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu, Thiru Edappadi K.Palaniswami at Bhavani. The website was launched alongside by the Founder, Siddharth A.M.R.Kalingarayar who shares his time between Coimbatore and Uthukuli. Arunkumar Kalingarayar, Vishnu Kalingarayar and Siddharth A.M.R.Kalingarayar were honoured by the Chief Minister at Bhavani. The Chief Minister showered encomiums on the family for having contributed their might towards the well being of the people. A nice public park has been thrown open to the public at the same location. The Chief Minister Thiru Edappadi K.Palaniswami has announced that the Government will celebrate the contribution of the visionary Kalingarayar annually.
Siddharth A.M.R.Kalingarayar was eager to share some aspects of the website launched by him, "Uthukuli has been at the centrestage for centuries. Our ancestors used to capture forest elephants and use it for civil or military purposes. The town had a full fledged administrative set up those days. A lot of information, artifacts and documents have been part of Uthukuli and thanks to the involvement of the British Library it was possible to digitise the entire collection. My father Arunkumar Kalingarayar and my mother Late Sita Kalingarayar had chosen to explore our roots by living in Uthukuli itself. This had kind of given a continuity for us as it had ensured the preservation of the past in every sense. The home page of the website will enable the user to search based on his or her interest. The geneology, artifacts, temples, publications, events, gallery etc., are part of the opening.
For example the artifacts part will share pictures of the royal collection which consists of cameras, vehicles, weapons, clothes, coins, logos, badges, seals, handfans, visiting cards etc., Our family manages about a dozen temples and details concerned with these places of worship can be accessed too. It took us some years to sift through the materials available and arrange them sequentially. We had to peruse old documents, archives, newspapers, photos, correspondence, curios while also recording information from a lot of old timers. We had to wait for the completion of the restoration work at some of the temples while parts of our ancient palace was getting restored. A lot of discoveries were made during this period and it was an exciting experience. Every moment of my spare time was used up for this effort. It was a tremendous learning process for me personally. Of course the Mckenzie papers, the book by Vadivelu which shares insights about the ruling families of India over a hundred years ago are part of the referance. Our family participated in the Delhi Durbar of 1912 which was held in honour of George V, King Emperor. I am glad and feel forunate for having been able to present this to the public."
The scion of the Kalingarayars is a keen organic farmer who is interested in travel, wildlife, conservation, heritage, religion and numismatics among other things. His wife Shrinidhi Kalingarayar shares his passion. He is happy to share his impression with regard to the initiative of his, "The idea behind this launch is to ensure that history is comprehensively recorded from all angles and aspects. This will help us to promote our heritage while also reaching out to people at the sametime. The web platform will enable a two way process for it will help us to exchange information with the public on a dynamic basis. The outreach will give us the best feedback too. The photos, videos, events etc., will make the quest all the more interesting. I am glad that our agrarian royal family is being introduced to the global community through a web platform. I am sure that all the other royals will follow suit and make our heritage all the more interesting. Its time that we make the study of history innovative and ensure that it promotes harmony, friendship, tourism and commerce."