AN APPEAL FOR IMMEDIATE ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY AT ERAGARAM, KUMBAKONAM ,TO KNOW THE TRUTHS ABOUT: A Temple that is around two thousand years old ! A Temple praised by Nakkeerar the great Tamil Poet. A Temple praised by Elangovadigal in Silapathikaaram. A Temple that was also called KUMARA PURAM. A Temple that was destroyed and forgotten from 14th Century till 1980 ! This report is prepared with information painstakingly collected with limited resources. Efforts have been taken to make it factual. Corrections and suggestions are welcome. The only purpose of this report is to bring to light the great glory of this Ancient temple . Tamil Poet and revolutionary Bharathi said, “Sarithira therchi kol” i.e., “Master your History.” ! One should know one’s antecedents. Similarly, he should know as much as possible about his Family Deity, if he is religiously inclined. NOW, about ERAGARAM: Is there any confusion about this name?  People call it “ Eraavaram”, “Eraakaaram”, “Eraaharam” etc. The Tamil research scholar, late Shri Sadaasiva Pandaaraththaar has proved beyond doubt, by discovering 12th Century stone inscriptions, that in the olden days, there was a place here called “ER”. According to Tamil dictionary, “agaram” means “an exclusive Brahmin residential area, adjacent to a village”. ER + AGARAM = ERAGARAM, meaning an “agraharam” near the village “ER”. Thus, ErAgaram is the right name of this place. How old is this Temple?  The earliest reference to “Er” or “Eragam” is found in Thirumurugaattrupadai, a Sanga Ilakkiyam by Nakkeerar. (3rd Century A.D ). He describes the Six great temples associated with Lord Muruga – the Arupadai Veedu. ”. Nakkeerar’s poem describes in detail how the Brahmins worshipped Lord Muruga. Stone inscriptions prove that ErAgaram is ancient and was once called “Er” and was popular. Near this “Er”, there was an “Agaram. The presence of Brahmins is known and the name of the place is “Er.” The conclusion is that this ‘Er” is the place referred to by Nakkeerar.  Then why did he not say “Er”, but “Eragathu”. This is simply better usage in Tamil language. “Agathe ” means “il”, meaning “in”. To mean “in ER” one cannot say “Er-il”; better term is “Eragathu”. Nakkeerar talked about Lord Muruga. Is not ErAgaram a Siva sthalam! An old Grandha book on Swamimalai says that ErAgaram was once called “ Kumarapuram”, as Lord Muruga, who settled there originally, did “linga pradhistai” himself and prayed to Skandha Parameshwarer. The very name of Siva in this shrine, viz. Skandhanaathar, indicates the special link to Skandhar or Murugan. An equally ancient reference to this temple is found in Silapathikaaram – 200 A.D.! The above references do not mean that this temple was constructed in 200 A.D. It only means that as far back as 200 A.D, this temple was famous. As to when it came into being, it could be decades/centuries before that. The archaeologists can inspect the bricks and other art articles and ascertain the age. In the chronological order, the next reference we find is, by Appar Adigal alias Thirunaavukkarasar, in his “Shethra Kovai” (list of famous temples). He lived in the 7th Century A.D. He calls the shrine “ ER”. Thus, there is no ‘Eragam” confusion! How come, out of the Four Great Tamil saints, only Appar sang about Er. Sadaasiva Pandaaraththaar answers this query! According to him, several works of the great men were lost and it is definite that works related to this temple were also lost. Of the ancient Tamil literature, we could save only ten percent . The stone inscriptions discovered in ErAgaram temple pertains to 12th century. These and other inscriptions prove that this place ‘Er” was also called “Mummudi Chola Mangalam” and was a famous place in those centuries. (Ref. Annual Reports on Indian Epigraphy (1926-29) page 48, S.No 283 & 284; South Indian Inscriptions Vol II No.70) The 12th century stone inscriptions only indicate that extensions and modifications were done by the Chola kings. The sanctum sanctorum in “Amman sannadhi ” is built of bricks. In Tanjore district, there are no mountains or quarries. It is only logical that earlier constructions were of bricks. Historical research says that during Chola period several stone constructions were undertaken in the temples. The great Chola Queen Sembian Ma Devi was instrumental in converting ten big temples from bricks to stones. What really happened to ErAgaram, after the Cholas! Whatever happened to Cholas after the 12 th century, happened to ErAgaram! From the 14th Century, with the onslaught of Alavudin Kilji’s deputy Malikafur, decline should have set in ErAgaram. The stone inscriptions were found in the 20th Century- around 1950? Only a handful of devotees knew about this temple. They too knew the temple in its dilapidated stage and not the glorious history. The original settlers of ErAgaram left that place long ago in search of their livlihood and also to avoid torture by the invading Muslim forces. Shri Sadaasiva Pandaaraththaar in his article on “14th Century A.D”, clearly says that from the 14 th Century, with the invasion of other religious factions, Tamil was neglected, and Tamilians were neglected. From this time, tamil culture, temples, and tamil scholars were not looked after. Transmigrations took place. The on set of British regime did not help the ancient culture. By mid 19th Century, not many knew about the greatness of tamil. Dr U.V.S. Iyer gave a new life to Tamil. The ancient literary works were retrieved and tamil’s glory was made known to the world. A book published in 1905 says that there were 1008 famous Siva sthalams in Tamilnadu. Now, we have only 274! Thus, seventy percent of our great temples are gone. Needless to say that ErAgaram should have been one of these. Thus, this temple was not known to the world from say, 14th Century to say mid 20th ! In the Siva Sthala Manjari printed in 1905, there is no mention of ErAgaram. In the book of temples written by Dr U.V.S. Iyer, there is no mention of this temple. In the nearby Thirupurambayam Sthalapuram by Sadaasiva Pandaaraththaar, where he has described the nearby ten temples, ErAgaram does not find a mention. All these go to prove the fact that Er or ErAgaram was in such a dilapidated state that very few knew about this temple. Arunagirinaathar, an ardent devotee of Lord Muruga, author of the famed Thirupugazh composed, in all, over 14000 songs. Today, we have with us only 1367 of them. Of these, 14 relate to Thiruveragam and 24 to Swamimalai. We have one song each for the nearby temples like Kottaiyur, Thiruvalmchuzhi, Pazhaiyaarai etc. The reasonable presumption is that as part of his temple tour, he would have visited ErAgaram also. According to Scholar Sadaasiva Pandaaraththaar, the practice of adding Thiru as a term of respect started in the 13th Century. It is reported that this temple had three /four prakaarams. Presently, there is only one. Lot of land adjacent to the temple is encroached. One look at the temple tank and its size will confirm that this should have been a very big temple in the olden days. dIt is also reported that in the nearby Cauvery river, there was a special place called “Sankari Padugai” and Swami used to give “ theertham” here and Lord Muruga from Swamimalai used to get his sacred spear /”vel” from Sankari Amman, during “Suura Samhaara” festival. All these practices and the deity’s name viz. Skandhanaathar, prove the special link between ErAgaram and Swamimalai. It is reported that Lord Muruga created ErAgaram, which was also called Kumarapuram, and made this the abode of his parents. Later he made Swamimalai, his exclusive abode. Elders of ErAgaram say that several idols and precious antiques are reported to be buried in and around the temple tank. A thorough archaeological research is a must. An old Tamil poem goes like this: Venkayam chukkanal vendhayathal avadhenna? Ingar sumandhiruppar icharakkai? Mangadha seeragathai thandhirael, Vaendaen Perunkayam, Eragathu Chettiyare !! The present day adaptation on status of ErAgaram is: Gurumalai Eragam aanal, kalvettal avadhenna? Ingar nambiduvar icharadai? Aayvu kuzhu anupiduveer, Nitham nitham vaendugiraen, Eragathu Chettiyare!! courtesy:http://www.vedas.com/eraharam/research.htm