Uttiramerur
Encyclopedia
Uttiramerur is a small town
situated near Chennai
(Madras), India
. Uttiramerur, once known as Chaturvedhi Mangalam (meaning a town with people knowledgeable of all 4 vedas viz rig, yajur, sama and atharvana), followed a highly organised democratic system. Uttiramerur is located 35 km from Kanchipuram
. It is known for its temples, built over 1200 years ago by the Pallava
s and Cholas.
The elections for those committees were conducted in a highly professional way where each contestants needed to meet strict eligibility criteria. The contestants needed to be well educated. They should never be convicted. The candidates should be between the ages of 35 and 70. One could contest an office only three times in their lifetime and an elected candidate could contest the office again only after two tenures by someone else.
The roads in Uttiramerur were very well planned. One can see a very advanced drainage system where all the rain water is collected in various tanks around the town. Forty-eight-foot-wide (48 feet (14.6 m)) roads can be seen, and the quality of their construction can clearly explain the success of a well-planned democracy. All of this information is available in the archeological carvings in Vaikuntha-vasar temple, Uttiramerur.
Sundharavaradhan temple, in Uttiramerur, was constructed by the Pallava
s in 750 A.D. and later renovated by Cholas and Vijayanagars
. Construction may have commenced even earlier, from the evidence provided by the building materials. The architectural design is highly advanced. The temple is a three storey building, constructed in such a way that devotees can’t walk above the deities.
The ground floor has all of its four deities standing; they are called varadhans (boon givers). The ground floor signifies the relationship between earthly devotees and God, where devotees expect a boon from the God and he is there to give it to them. The deities present in the ground floor are Sundharavaradhan, Kalyanavaradhan, Achutavaradhan and Anurudhravaradhan.
The significance of the seated deities on the first floor is that they all provide knowledge about truth to their devotees (the people who put their effort into worshipping gods on the first floor are qualified to gain the knowledge because of their eagerness). The gods present on the first floor are Bhagvath-Gita Krishnan with Arjun, Bhuvaragan (savior of the earth) with Lakshmi, and Yoga Narasimmar (lion God) and Vaikunthavaradhan.
The second floor has an Anathapadmanaban (very similar to Paranthaman in Parkatal), the significance being that knowledge and a little more effort can drive us to mukthi
(salvation or liberation).
There is an underground tunnel which is supposed to connect to Kanchipuram from the temple.(Not verifiable)
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
situated near Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
(Madras), India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. Uttiramerur, once known as Chaturvedhi Mangalam (meaning a town with people knowledgeable of all 4 vedas viz rig, yajur, sama and atharvana), followed a highly organised democratic system. Uttiramerur is located 35 km from Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram, or Kanchi, is a temple city and a municipality in Kanchipuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is a temple town and the headquarters of Kanchipuram district...
. It is known for its temples, built over 1200 years ago by the Pallava
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which ruled the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region with their capital at Kanchipuram...
s and Cholas.
Democracy
Democratic principles were followed in various fields like the treasury, educational committee, water tank maintenance committee and infrastructure maintenance committee.The elections for those committees were conducted in a highly professional way where each contestants needed to meet strict eligibility criteria. The contestants needed to be well educated. They should never be convicted. The candidates should be between the ages of 35 and 70. One could contest an office only three times in their lifetime and an elected candidate could contest the office again only after two tenures by someone else.
The roads in Uttiramerur were very well planned. One can see a very advanced drainage system where all the rain water is collected in various tanks around the town. Forty-eight-foot-wide (48 feet (14.6 m)) roads can be seen, and the quality of their construction can clearly explain the success of a well-planned democracy. All of this information is available in the archeological carvings in Vaikuntha-vasar temple, Uttiramerur.
Sundaravaradhan
Sundharavaradhan temple, in Uttiramerur, was constructed by the Pallava
Pallava
The Pallava dynasty was a Tamil dynasty which ruled the northern Tamil Nadu region and the southern Andhra Pradesh region with their capital at Kanchipuram...
s in 750 A.D. and later renovated by Cholas and Vijayanagars
Vijayanagara Empire
The Vijayanagara Empire , referred as the Kingdom of Bisnaga by the Portuguese, was an empire based in South Indian in the Deccan Plateau region. It was established in 1336 by Harihara I and his brother Bukka Raya I of the Yadava lineage. The empire rose to prominence as a culmination of attempts...
. Construction may have commenced even earlier, from the evidence provided by the building materials. The architectural design is highly advanced. The temple is a three storey building, constructed in such a way that devotees can’t walk above the deities.
The ground floor has all of its four deities standing; they are called varadhans (boon givers). The ground floor signifies the relationship between earthly devotees and God, where devotees expect a boon from the God and he is there to give it to them. The deities present in the ground floor are Sundharavaradhan, Kalyanavaradhan, Achutavaradhan and Anurudhravaradhan.
The significance of the seated deities on the first floor is that they all provide knowledge about truth to their devotees (the people who put their effort into worshipping gods on the first floor are qualified to gain the knowledge because of their eagerness). The gods present on the first floor are Bhagvath-Gita Krishnan with Arjun, Bhuvaragan (savior of the earth) with Lakshmi, and Yoga Narasimmar (lion God) and Vaikunthavaradhan.
The second floor has an Anathapadmanaban (very similar to Paranthaman in Parkatal), the significance being that knowledge and a little more effort can drive us to mukthi
Moksha
Within Indian religions, moksha or mukti , literally "release" , is the liberation from samsara and the concomitant suffering involved in being subject to the cycle of repeated death and reincarnation or rebirth.-Origins:It is highly probable that the concept of moksha was first developed in...
(salvation or liberation).
There is an underground tunnel which is supposed to connect to Kanchipuram from the temple.(Not verifiable)