Ayothiapattinam is a

panchayat town A nagar panchayat (town panchayat; ) or Notified Area Council (NAC) in India is a settlement in transition from rural to urban and therefore a form of an urban political unit comparable to a municipality. An urban centre with more than 12,000 ...

located in

Vazhapadi taluk Vazhapadi taluk is one of the thirteen taluks of Salem district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The headquarters of the taluk is the town of Vazhapadi. Administration Vazhapadi taluk is divided into two revenue blocks, Valapady block and Ay ...

Salem district Salem District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district is now divided into Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal as individual districts. Salem is the district headquarters and other major towns in the distri ...

in the state of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. This village is called Ayothyapatinam because of famous Kodandaramaswamy Temple, and is called as the (Ayodhya of South India). The temple is thought to remain from the time of

Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...

and finds mention in the

Valmiki Ramayana The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th to 4th centuries BCE, and later stages ...

Etymology

The word "Ayodhya" is a regularly formed derivation of the

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

verb ''yudh'', "to fight, to wage war". ''Yodhya'' is the future passive participle, meaning "to be fought"; the initial ''a'' is the negative prefix; the whole, therefore, means "not to be fought" or, more idiomatically in English, "invincible". This meaning is attested by the ''

Atharvaveda The Atharva Veda (, ' from ' and ''veda'', meaning "knowledge") is the "knowledge storehouse of ''atharvāṇas'', the procedures for everyday life".Laurie Patton (2004), Veda and Upanishad, in ''The Hindu World'' (Editors: Sushil Mittal and G ...

'', which uses it to refer to the unconquerable city of gods. The town is called as the Dakshina Ayodhya or (Ayodhya of South India) .

Geography

Location

Ayothiapattinam is located 7 km east of Salem city. It acts as a gateway to Salem City for the people coming from east and northeast districts of Tamil Nadu. It is located 35 km from Yercaud, 168 km from Coimbatore, 195 km from Bengaluru and 330 km from Chennai.

Demographics

At the 2001 India

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

, Ayothiapattinam had a population of 9,956. Males constituted 50% of the population and females 50%. Ayothiapattinam had an average literacy rate of 67%, higher than the national average of 59.5%; with 56% of the males and 44% of females literate. 11% of the population was under 6 years of age.

Kodandaramaswamy Temple

Kodandaramaswamy Temple is a

Hindu temple A Hindu temple, or ''mandir'' or ''koil'' in Indian languages, is a house, seat and body of divinity for Hindus. It is a structure designed to bring human beings and gods together through worship, sacrifice, and devotion.; Quote: "The Hind ...

located in the

, dedicated to Lord

Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...

, the seventh avatar of Lord

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within t ...

. The temple is said to have been built primarily by Maharishi

Bharadvaja Bharadvaja ( sa, भरद्वाज, IAST: ; also spelled Bharadwaja) was one of the revered Vedic sages (maharishi) in Ancient India. He was a renowned scholar, economist, grammarian and physician. He is one of the Saptarishis (seven great ...

and later constructed by Adhiyaman kings. The Raja Gopura of the temple is said to have been built by

Tirumala Nayaka Tirumala Nayaka ( Tamil: ''"Thirumalai Nayakar"''; 1623–1659) was the ruler of Madurai Nayak Dynasty in the 17th century. He ruled Madurai between A.D 1623 and 1659. His contributions are found in the many splendid buildings and temples of M ...

As per legend,

Sita Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...

Lakshmana Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

and

Hanuman Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and on ...

while returning from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

stayed in the

Maharishi Ashrama Which was located here. Rishi

wanted to see the divine pattabisheka of

wanted to fulfill the wishes of the Maharishi and he gave a darshan to the maharishi and

maharishi ''prathishtaied'' the ''Archa roopam'' of

Sri Rama Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular ''avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Being ...

. The sanctum sanctorum was built by king Adhiyaman and the other mandapas built by

. This temple is one of the Purana kshethram and Abhimana sthalam as it is mentioned in

and is a

temple.

References

Sources

* * Abhimana temples of Vishnu Cities and towns in Salem district Vishnu temples {{SalemIN-geo-stub