Bahour is a town,

Commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

and

Assembly Constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...

in the Union Territory of

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

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 ...

. It consists of four non-contiguous areas, including three of the nine true

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

s of Puducherry. It is home to the second largest and perhaps the oldest irrigation lake in the region- the Bahour Eri. The lake has been in existence since the

Chola period The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE ...

.Francis, Cyril Antony. Gazetteer of India- Union Territory of Pondicherry Volume 1. Administration of the Union Territory of Pondicherry, 1982. Bahour also has reports of

lignite Lignite, often referred to as brown coal, is a soft, brown, combustible, sedimentary rock formed from naturally compressed peat. It has a carbon content around 25–35%, and is considered the lowest rank of coal due to its relatively low heat ...

deposits but it is not exploited due to its close proximity to the sea and the likelihood of seeping seawater, adulterating the ground water. It is a major access point for villages south of Puducherry and forms the southern border to the Union territory. The city is also known as the ‘rice bowl of Puducherry’ since the area is suitable for Paddy (rice) cultivation.

History

The historical record of Bahour dates back as early as the Chola Period. Bahour is home to an ancient temple- Sri Moolanathaswamy Temple, built around the 10th century. The earliest inscriptions on the walls of this temple are of Kannara Dev (

Krishna III Krishna III whose Kannada name was Kannara (r. 939 – 967 C.E.) was the last great warrior and able monarch of the Rashtrakuta dynasty of Manyakheta. He was a shrewd administrator and skillful military campaigner. He waged many wars to bring b ...

Rashtrakuta Dynasty Rashtrakuta (IAST: ') (r. 753-982 CE) was a royal Indian dynasty ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the sixth and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing their ...

Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil Gabriel Jouveau-Dubreuil (1885–1945) was a French archaeologist who specialized in Southern India. Jouveau-Dubreuil was the first discoverer of artifacts at Nagarjunakonda in Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the ...

considered that this temple marked a transition from the

Pallava The Pallava dynasty existed from 275 CE to 897 CE, ruling a significant portion of the Deccan, also known as Tondaimandalam. The dynasty rose to prominence after the downfall of the Satavahana dynasty, with whom they had formerly served as fe ...

to Chola style of architecture. Evidence also exists of the presence of a centre for Sanskrit studies- the Vidyasthana in the region which was known for imparting the Chaturdasa Vidya -fourteen branches of learning (i.e. the four

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

, the six

Vedanga The Vedanga ( sa, वेदाङ्ग ', "limbs of the Veda") are six auxiliary disciplines of Hinduism that developed in ancient times and have been connected with the study of the Vedas:James Lochtefeld (2002), "Vedanga" in The Illustrated Enc ...

s, Mimamsa,

Nyaya (Sanskrit: न्याय, ''nyā-yá''), literally meaning "justice", "rules", "method" or "judgment",Dharma Sastra and

Purana Purana (; sa, , '; literally meaning "ancient, old"Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature (1995 Edition), Article on Puranas, , page 915) is a vast genre of Indian literature about a wide range of topics, particularly about legends an ...

s). The evidence of this centre can be found through the accounts of the Pallava King Nrpatungavarman(869–880 AD) which has mentions of grants of three villages as endowments to the Vidyasthana by the minister of the King.Balasubrahmanyam, C.R., Early Chola Temples. Orient Longman, 1971. The inscriptions of Rashtrukta King Krishna III also give an account of an elaborate system of village administration dating back to the tenth century. Inscriptions on the Mulasthanam temple give an account of an assembly, ‘The Great Assembly of Vahur’ which looked after village administration.Vijayavenugopal, G., Pondicherry Inscription Part II. Ecol`e francaise d’ Extreme-Orient. References to Bahour are also found as ‘Vahour’ and later as ‘Sri Alagiya Chola Chaturvedimangalam’ from the 25th year of

Rajaraja I Rajaraja I (947 CE – 1014 CE), born Arunmozhi Varman or Arulmozhi Varman and often described as Raja Raja the Great or Raja Raja Chozhan was a Chola emperor who reigned from 985 CE to 1014 CE. He was the most powerful Tamil king in South ...

and onwards. Pre historic evidence of funeral urns excavated by archaeologist Kuppuswamy have also been found here, making the territory an area of prehistoric importance.

Bahour Lake

Bahour Lake is a major tourist spot in Bahour. It is one of the

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Int ...

s (IBA) in Puducherry, the other being Ossudu Lake. ‘Bahour Eri’ or Bahour Lake in the Bahour Commune is the second largest and perhaps the oldest irrigation lake in the region. The lake was in existence since the Chola Period. Inscriptions of Kannaradev(Krishna III of Rashtrukta Dynasty) give an account of the lake as ‘Peria Eri’ (the big lake) and also as Kadambu Eri (the lake surrounded by Kadambu Trees). Accounts of Rajaraja give a brief of how tax in form of paddy was collected for mainainance of the lake, failure of which would cost 25 Gold currencies and the task of digging up the lake to one who failed to pay the taxes. There are also accounts of a Council of Elders known as ‘Eri Varya Perumakkal’ whose responsibility was to look after the maintenance of lake and proper distribution of its water. Inscriptions of Chola King, Rajendra I mention how besides the tank task in form of paddy, every year, a pit measuring two rods by width and one rod by depth was to be dug by each member of the village aged between 10 and 80 years excepting untouchables. There are mentions of punishments in form of compensation even to the Lake Committee if they failed to collect taxes.

Historic public works at the Bahour Lake

Public works at the lake have been historically done by Devdasis. The Moolanathaswamy Temple displays numerous sculptures of Devdasis carved out of granite in various dancing postures. The plaque on the western side of the Ayi Mandapam Monument narrates how two Devdasi sisters- Bangari and Singari were responsible for the renewal of the lake. Bangari, to put an end to the dependency of the lake on rain water had taken up the task of building an irrigation canal which was excavated from Pennaiyar River to Bahour Lake and ran at the length of 13 km. Singari took up the task of renovating and desilting the lake. It was this initiative of the two sisters that had benefitted the whole of Bahour.

Demographics

Population

As per the 2011 Census of the Bahour Revenue Village, the total population at Bahour ranges to around 10927 persons with 5406 Male and 5521 female population.

Health care

A primary health care centre is functioning at Bahour which provides round the clock services with the assistance of a Medical Officer

Education facilities

Bahour has a number of government and private schools. Among the Government schools are: • Govt. Higher Secondary School, • Govt. Higher Secondary School for girls • Govt. Boys Middle School Among the private schools are: • Prof. Annuswamy Higher Secondary School • Our Lady of Victory English Higher Secondary School Two private engineering colleges namely Alpha Engineering College and Sri Ganesh Engineering College and two private medical colleges namely:Gandhi Medical College and Arupadai Veedu Medical College are functioning around Bahour

Geography

Bahour is located at 11.806° N 79.74°E. Bahour is 21 km. from Puducherry city. It is directly connected with

and

Cuddalore Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj. While the early history of Cudda ...

by frequent bus service.

Road network

Five RC Roads passes through Bahour. They are * Villianur–Bahour Road ( RC-18) * Kirumampakkam–Bahour Road ( RC-27) * Kanniakoil–Bahour Road ( RC-28) * Bahour–Karaimedu Road ( RC-31) * Pakkam–Cuddalore Road ( RC-33)

Place of interest

Mulanathaswami Temple, Bahour

Mulanathaswami Temple is located in the heart of Bahour. This temple belongs to Chola period. Marvel sculptures in the temple displays

Chola The Chola dynasty was a Tamils, Tamil thalassocratic Tamil Dynasties, empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated ...

's architecture. It is declared as an Archaeological monument and is maintained by ASI.

Gallery

File:Mulanathaswami Temple, Bahour, Puducherry, India 15.JPG, Marvel sculptures in the temple File:Mulanathaswami Temple, Bahour, Puducherry, India 06.JPG, View from Southern direction File:Mulanathaswami Temple, Bahour, Puducherry, India 07.JPG, Dhakshnamoorthy Sculpture File:Mulanathaswami Temple,Bahour 02.jpg, Mulanathaswami Temple File:Bahour-Lake.jpg, Bahour Lake File:Distance-from-Bahour.jpg, Distance to Places reachable from East of Bahour File:Distance-from-Bahour-Panruti.jpg, Distance to Places reachable from West of Bahour

References

External links

Official website of the Government of the Union Territory of Puducherry
{{Puducherry District Cities and towns in Puducherry district