A large stone inscription embedded on the west wall of Perur Patteeswarar Temple mentions the contributions made by a Vettuvar chief to the shrine in 1792.
When a troupe of folk artistes kept narrating the story of “Annanmarsamy Kathai” through several successive nights in Coimbatore, many could not have understood that the two clans - Vellalars and Vettuvars, discussed in the literature, were the inhabitants of Kongunadu.
While the Vellalars were cultivators of land, Vettuvars had hunting as their occupation.
Though Annanmarsamy Kathai glorifies the Vellalar twins Ponnar and Sankar defeating the Vettuvar chief Thalayur Kali, several stone inscriptions and palm leaf manuscripts portray the greatness of the Vettuvars.
“Anchusathi Varalaru” a palm leaf manuscript says that Vettuvars were the descendants of Thinnan, a hunter in Kalahasti. Legend has it that Thinnan offered meat to the Shaivite supreme God Shiva thinking He might be hungry. Also, Thinnan took out his own right eye and fixed over the bleeding right eye of the Lord. When he saw the Lord's left eye was bleeding too, he was about to take out his left eye with his arrow. However, Lord Shiva, realizing Thinnan’s deep devotion, called him as ‘Kann’appa! as he was ready to lose both his eyes for God. By his dedication, he was anointed as one of the 63 apostles in the Shaivite religion.
Many other historic documents mention Vettuvars as chiefs of the villages in Kongunadu possessing titles like “Kongalvan” “Kongurayan” and “Mandradi”
The 59th song in Karmega Kavingnar’s “Kongu Mandala Sathakam" describes the valor of Gopanna Mandradiar, a Vettuvar chief of Perunkalanthai near Pollachi. The song says that Mandradiar, being a commander to an army, assisted the Madurai Pandyas in defeating a Sri Lankan king, who wanted to invade the Pandya dynasty.
Besides being known for their bravery, Vettuvars constructed several temples and mutts in Coimbatore.
The copper plate “Perur Seppedu” has a record of Puravipalayam Muthuvelmani Chandra Gopanna Mandradiyar’s contributions to the temples in Coimbatore like Perur Patteeshwarar Temple and Ponmalai Velayuthasamy temple in Kinathukadavu. A large stone inscription embedded on the west wall of Perur Temple mentions the contributions made by the Vettuvar chief to the shrine in 1792.
Though Annanmarsamy Kathai portrays Vettuvars in contrast to the documents like Kongu Mandala Sathakam or Perur Seppedu, the literature has its greatness in reflecting Kongu culture.
Brenda Beck, a Canadian scholar, who came to Coimbatore in 1965 to prepare her doctoral thesis for Oxford University, documented Annanmarsamy Kathai in her tape, as villager Ramasamy narrated it to her for 18 complete nights.
Sakthikanal, one of the senior Vanambadi poets of Coimbatore, obtained the palm leaf manuscript of Annanmarsami Kathai from Periyanna Gounder in Erode and composed it into an epic in 1992.
DMK chief and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi was greatly inspired by the oral literature when he lived in Coimbatore and penned the story into a beautiful prose epic titled “Ponnar - Sankar”
While the Vellalars were cultivators of land, Vettuvars had hunting as their occupation.
Though Annanmarsamy Kathai glorifies the Vellalar twins Ponnar and Sankar defeating the Vettuvar chief Thalayur Kali, several stone inscriptions and palm leaf manuscripts portray the greatness of the Vettuvars.
“Anchusathi Varalaru” a palm leaf manuscript says that Vettuvars were the descendants of Thinnan, a hunter in Kalahasti. Legend has it that Thinnan offered meat to the Shaivite supreme God Shiva thinking He might be hungry. Also, Thinnan took out his own right eye and fixed over the bleeding right eye of the Lord. When he saw the Lord's left eye was bleeding too, he was about to take out his left eye with his arrow. However, Lord Shiva, realizing Thinnan’s deep devotion, called him as ‘Kann’appa! as he was ready to lose both his eyes for God. By his dedication, he was anointed as one of the 63 apostles in the Shaivite religion.
Many other historic documents mention Vettuvars as chiefs of the villages in Kongunadu possessing titles like “Kongalvan” “Kongurayan” and “Mandradi”
The 59th song in Karmega Kavingnar’s “Kongu Mandala Sathakam" describes the valor of Gopanna Mandradiar, a Vettuvar chief of Perunkalanthai near Pollachi. The song says that Mandradiar, being a commander to an army, assisted the Madurai Pandyas in defeating a Sri Lankan king, who wanted to invade the Pandya dynasty.
Besides being known for their bravery, Vettuvars constructed several temples and mutts in Coimbatore.
The copper plate “Perur Seppedu” has a record of Puravipalayam Muthuvelmani Chandra Gopanna Mandradiyar’s contributions to the temples in Coimbatore like Perur Patteeshwarar Temple and Ponmalai Velayuthasamy temple in Kinathukadavu. A large stone inscription embedded on the west wall of Perur Temple mentions the contributions made by the Vettuvar chief to the shrine in 1792.
Though Annanmarsamy Kathai portrays Vettuvars in contrast to the documents like Kongu Mandala Sathakam or Perur Seppedu, the literature has its greatness in reflecting Kongu culture.
Brenda Beck, a Canadian scholar, who came to Coimbatore in 1965 to prepare her doctoral thesis for Oxford University, documented Annanmarsamy Kathai in her tape, as villager Ramasamy narrated it to her for 18 complete nights.
Sakthikanal, one of the senior Vanambadi poets of Coimbatore, obtained the palm leaf manuscript of Annanmarsami Kathai from Periyanna Gounder in Erode and composed it into an epic in 1992.
DMK chief and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi was greatly inspired by the oral literature when he lived in Coimbatore and penned the story into a beautiful prose epic titled “Ponnar - Sankar”