Scene near Srivilliputtur. c. 20 July 1792 (at Alagarkoil, a temple in the hills 7 miles west of Srivilliputtur)

Alagarkoil area, near Srivilliputtur in July 1792

Pencil and wash drawing by Thomas and William Daniell of a scene near Srivilliputtur, dated c.20 July 1792. Inscribed on back in ink: '129, Near Allegreycoil. Near Chevulpettore'; in pencil: 'near Allygreycoil. Shevalpettore.'

From March 1792 to February 1793 the Daniells travelled through South India. At that time the Tinnevelly district was still unmapped and unadministered by the British. The artist were greatly impressed by the 'sublimity' of the scenery with great forests and hills. Near the fort of Srivilliputtur they drew a view of the a small temple on the hill at Alagarkoil.

This post is entirely derived from the webpage at - http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/onlineex/apac/other/019wdz000000234u00000000.html - as on 19 August 2013. All copyright rests with the original owners in all forms. The information is reproduced here entirely on non-profit basis for awareness about the ancient history of Srivilliputtur. No intent is implied and none is expected other than the information in the original pages. 

Srivilliputhur Temple - 1860s

From the British Library stock photographs. Several web pages and blogs have uploaded these photographs and they are also easily available on flicker. Am not aware of the copyright on these photographs.

These photographs of the Srivilliputhur temple are of 1860 thereabouts, when my paternal paternal great grandfather, Shri Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu and great grandmother, Rukmini Devi, would have been resident in the town.

This is the Madurai Nayak's Palace near Srivilliputhur, about 500 years ago. The Madurai Nayaks are Naidus who came from Andhra Pradesh and conquered these places and ruled in this region. This could be the reason for the many well-settled Telugu-speaking Naidu families in deep deep south Tamil Nadu. Remember, 1600 was the birth-year of the East India Company, and 1630s-60s was when Chatrapati Shivaji takes over the Deccan, and thereafter Rajaram comes to Tanjore (- modern day Thanjavur). To this day, there are well-settled Marathi speaking families and trustees of several small and medium sized old Vaishnava temples. The Western Ghats are behind the Palace, and the ranges are thought to be Pallilichan, and the route to the ancient Kattalagar Kovil (= Temple).

Vittalapuram, the dakshina Pandaripuram, near Tirunelveli, South Tamil Nadu

I often wondered how my paternal-paternal great grandfather's family in the 1850s, not having traveled much, resident in Srivilliputtur, south Tamil Nadu, became firmly devoted to Panduranga Vittala.

There is one of the two oldest temples of South India dedicated to Panduranga Vittala, near Tirunelveli, in South South South Tamil Nadu. This would be the nearest to Srivilliputtur. Please correct me if I am wrong.

An excellent blog article titled "Vittalapuram Panduranga Perumal Koil" provides excellent information about the temple. I am borrowing some of the text here, with complete credit and copyright to the author of the blog - "temple, travel and sport".

Known as Dakshina Pandaripuram, the 500 year old Vijayanagara temple, is now in need of support and help to regain its former glory.

The temple is located 15 kms east of Tirunelveli, in Seydunganallur Village, at Vittalapuram. The deity Panduranga can be seen here, in the traditional posture, with Rukmini and Satyabhama. The story is that Panduranga from Pandharpur, Maharashtra came in the dream of Vittalaraya, the army general of the Vijayanagara kingdom, who was one his way to begin battle against the Travancore kings. Due to instructions in the dream,  Vittalaraya came to Seydunganallur village and discovered the Pandaripuram idol, buried in the banks of the Tamaraibharani or Porunai River. The deity was installed at a place called Nattarkulam, and was later known as Vittalapuram.

Panduranga Vittala at Dakshina Pandaripuram or Vittalapuram

Seydunganallur Village, near Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

[from the blog - temple, travel and sport. Copyright and ownership of original blog.]

Vittalaraya continued southwards and camped at Suchindram, near Kanya Kumari. The Travancore rulers agreed to a settlement without a battle, and thus Vittalaraya returned to the Panduranga temple at Vittalapuram, and transferred all the finances to the temple, to ensure six pooja (= prayers) daily and for the conduct of major festivals.

Panduranga Vittala Temple at Vittalapuram, the Dakshina Pandharipuram

Seydunganallur, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu

[from the blog - temple, travel and sport - Copyright and ownership of original blog.]

Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam's family [my paternal grandfather]

Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu - spouse - Rukmini Devi, Residents at Srivilliputtur, Tamil Nadu
[My paternal paternal great grandfather and great grandmother]
Children: Balamma (f), Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam (m), Shanmughavalli (f)

Balamma - spouse - Vakalabharanam Naidu 
Residents of Mambalam in Madras. Vakalabharanam Naidu - resident and native of Madras.
Children: 1 son. Known usually as ACK Naidu - was Head Typist at the Railway Office in Madras. 
Name = Adumala Chinna Krishna Naidu. Adumala = House Name of Vakalabharanam Naidu.

Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam - spouse - Rambai / Kodai / Kodamma
Children: Balapila Naga Bhushan, Pramila Jairam Naidu, Shantaram Naidu
(House Name was probably - Balapilavar)

Shanmughavalli, Resident at Triplicane, Chennai (Madras) - spouse - Alagiri Singhari Naidu 
Children: Devaki Amma (f) [passed away at 18 years of age] - Jairam Naidu - spouse - Pramila Jairam Naidu

Note = Vakalabharanam Naidu's father was elder brother of Alagari Singhari Naidu's father. The two cousins married the two sisters - Balamma and Shanmughavalli. Their house name was = Adumala. Could also be pronounced as Yedumala, but perhaps it was Adumala - because ACK Naidu was never known as YCK Naidu.


Narayanaswamy Naidu - spouse - Thayamma, Residents at Srirangam / Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu
[My paternal maternal great grandfather and great grandmother]
Children: Alamelu (f), Nagamma (f), Radhamma (f), Rambai (Kodai - Kodamma) (f), Laxmibai (Laxmamma) (f), Govindaswamy Naidu (m), Rangaramanujula Naidu (m) - aka Naamala Naidu aka Rangarajulu Naidu, Narayanaswamy Naidu (m)

Narayanaswamy Naidu and Thayamma (second wife) - mother of all eight children - stayed at 12 Mannar Pillai Street, Tiruchirapalli. had property at Taranoor and Manikund near Tiruchi. Main income was probably from rental properties. First wife - deceased. Thayamma was reported to be a trusting and generous person. It is said that the lawyer who used to fight their legal battles on their properties became so rich that he purchased their horse carriage (victoria) that belonged to Narayanaswamy Naidu. They handed over different properties to each of their children while they continued to stay at 12 Mannar Pillai Street. 

Narayanaswamy Naidu had an unfortunate passing to the higher temple. He was accompanying the sacred chariot of Ranganathaswamy, the deity of Srirangam, through the town, and was smashing coconuts with his bare hands. A coconut chip pierced his hand, poisoned it, and the hand had to be sliced off. Later, the poison spread within and he passed away. At that time, Rambai and Laxmibai were 3 years old while Chinna Thayamma was only 25-26 years old.  

My paternal maternal great grandmother, Chinna Thayamma, as she was called (for, the first wife was also named Thayamma, and she was usually referred to as Pedda Thayamma), would go to Solanur, to take care of the cultivation and agricultural plots. She would usually go accompanied by Rangarajulu Naidu or Govindaswamy Naidu. 

Chinna Thayamma was adventurous, and she traveled around in India. She came up to Ooty and Nashik on tour and pilgrimage, with a group of friends and returned after visiting several places. She passed on to the higher temple when she was 60 years old, and a grandmother through all her children. 

(1) Alamelu - married Kodandarama Naidu. 
Son: Doranna

(2) Nagamma - married Subbaiah Naidu.

(3) Radhamma - married Chinnaraju aka Chinnaiah Naidu.

Daughter: Susheela

(4) Rambai - Kodai - Kodamma married Shyama Ranga Bhashyam Naidu
Her house address was - 
Shyamala Rambai (Kodai) Naidu, 12, Mannar Pillai Street, Tiruchirapalli 
[Opp. Gandhi Market, Mamkonda, Subramaniam Temple]

(5) Laxmibai aka Laxmamma - married Chinnaswamy Naidu aka VPC (?). Settled in Hyderabad.

Children: Sarojini, Shanta, Vasanta, Lalita and Sucharita

It is said that Laxmamma looked like her mother, Thayamma, who was exceedingly beautiful. 

Sucharita, Shanta, Vasantha and Lalitha

Four of Laxmamma's daughters. Priceless photograph.

With acknowledgement to my sister, Anita Pushpala - Anu.

Laxmibai was also known as - Laxmi Vadi. Her daughter, Sucharita (born February 28, 1939 in Tiruchirapalli, passed on to the higher temple on 11 February, 2013 at Zionsville, USA) married Subbarayulu Naidu and was known as Sucharita Kakanur Naidu. Sucharita's children - Biswajeet Naidu and Anita (Anu). 

Santha Devi, daughter of Shri Vadi P. Chinnaswamy Naidu and 

Laxmi Vadi (nee Laxmibai, twin sister of my paternal 

grandmother, Rambai) and her husband, 

Capt. G. D. Krishnan, IAMC. This is a 

commemorative photograph about their wedding, 

published in the local newspaper, The Hindu, in the 

Madras edition of those times. This photograph was in the 

collection of my paternal aunt, Pramila Jairam Naidu, 

my father's younger sister and daughtr of Rambai.

(6) Govindaswamy Naidu - 

Shaved his head bald, washed his own clothes, walked with an alsatian and rajapalayam hound, and tiger cub to the river, daily for his bath. 

Son: Vasu

(7) Rangaramanujula Naidu aka Naamala Naidu aka Rangarajulu Naidu - settled inside the Srirangam Temple Area, near Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu.
Children: Alavandar Naidu (m), Kannan aka Kannaiya (m), Suguna (f)  

Alavandar Naidu - married Susheela, daughter of Radhamma. Settled outside the precincts of the Srirangam Temple. Visited him in 1987, and he had visited us in Wadala, Mumbai on some occasions. Radhamma passed way. Alavandar Naidu remarried. One son. I have met him when he was in Primary School. 

Kannan aka Kannaiya - continued to stay inside the Srirangam Temple area. I visited his house and met the family and his daughter, with my parents in 1987. 

(8) Narayanaswamy Naidu. Good singer, diamond merchant.
Son: Gopal - good carnatic singer. [died in slipping down from a bus.]

My father's family

My paternal great grandfather, Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu, was born in Srivilliputtur. My paternal great grandmother, Rukmini Devi, was also born in Srivilliputtur, in Tamil Nadu. They were a Telugu-speaking Balija Naidu family in deep South India, devoted to the Goddess Andal of the Srivilliputtur Temple. They were closely associated with the temple and yet, somehow became devoted to the deity Panduranga, Vittala. I am not aware of how that happened, so far south, in Srivilliputtur.

Sri Andal of Srivilliputtur

Deity at the prayer place of my family

since my great grandfather...

Srivilliputtur temple mahagopuram

the beginning....

From Srivilliputtur, my grandfather's marriage took place with Kodai, a lady from Tiruchirapalli, near Srirangam, in Central Tamil Nadu. Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam, my paternal grandfather, was true to his name. The family was extremely devoted to Ranganatha, the deity at Srirangam. Having come from Srivilliputtur, the deities at the prayer place were mainly Andal, Ranganatha and Panduranga. Kodai, my grandmother, or Kodamma, as we knew her, was a twin. Her sister, Lakshmibai / Lakshmamma, was married at Hyderabad in the Nizam State of those times.

Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam

My paternal grandfather

Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam and Kodamma

My paternal grandfather and grandmother

My paternal grandfather, Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam and

My paternal grandmother, Rambai (a.k.a. Kodai - Kodamma) - c. 1958, Mumbai

My grandfather, born on 9 July 1899, served in the army for a brief while, and later moved to the Railway Protection Force, which was an armed force of those times. He kept getting transferred to many places, but kept roots in Chennai, near Nungambakkam. His brother-in-law's family was settled at Nungambakkam and they were attached to the temple of Ranganatha at Tiruvallur. On alternate transfers, the family stayed in Chennai, and kept visiting the Tirumala temple of Sri Venkateswara frequently. Soon, the prayer place was now dedicated to Sri Venkateswara, and was accompanied by Andal, Ranganatha and Panduranga.

My paternal grandmother, Kodai, came from a very respectable family, full of good traditions, devotion and family values. My father was born in Belgaum and his brothers and sisters were born in different places, as the family kept moving.

My paternal paternal great grandfather, Shri Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu, was an expert at civil construction and much sought after, as a valued contractor for works. He was invited for construction works and was involved in projects in Rajapalayam, Srirangam-Trichy, Kumbakonam, Chennai and nearabouts. In his later years, he was called to Mumbai and was involved in construction projects in the emerging metropolis, sometime in 1920s. Later, he returned to Madras, settled down with his daughters, Balamma and Shanmughavalli, who were married and staying at Triplicane and Mambalam areas. He passed on to the greater temple above in Madras.

My paternal paternal great grandmother, Rukmini Devi, was born in Srivilliputhur and married in the same city. She passed on to the greater temple above while at Srivilliputhur when my paternal grandfather was 12 years old, therefore, 1911. She would have been about 35 years old at that time, so, possibly born 1875 or thereabouts.

Shri Neela Meghala Shyamala Naidu and Smt Rukmini Devi would have probably been residents of Renganathapuram or Perumalpatti at Srivilliputhur, or nearabouts.

My paternal grandfather, Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam and paternal grandmother, Rambai, a.k.a Kodamma, a.k.a. Kodai, had eight children. Three survived to be elders and managed their families. Five children died due to various causes. Their names were -

(1) Daya Krishna - aka Damu
(2) Navneetha Krishna - aka Babu aka Nagabhushan aka Balapila Naga Bhushan (my father)
(3) Pramila Jairam Naidu
(4) Venkata Krishna - aka Venkappa (passed on due to illness)
(5) Sarala
(6) Murali Krishna
(7) Kaushala Ram
(8) Shanta Ram - aka Shantaram Naidu

Shyamala Ranga Bhashyam (Centre) with B. N. Bhushan (Left) 

and Shantaram Naidu (Right) - sometime in the late sixties. 

Photographer - myself, at age 8 or 9 years old, 

with a b&w photosmart camera that cost Rs. 18