Melpadi is an ancient small town in

Vellore district Vellore district () is one of the 38 districts in the Tamil Nadu state of India. It is one of the eleven districts that form the north region of Tamil Nadu. Vellore city is the headquarters of this district. As of 2011, the district had a popu ...

in the

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 ...

n 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 ...

. It is on the western bank of

Ponnai Ponnai is a Town panchayat which is located in the Vellore district, Vellore District within the state of Tamil Nadu. Ponnai Panchayat is composed of 18 villages, with Ponnai serving as the head town. Transport Nearby towns are linked by rail ...

near the

Palar River Palar is a river of southern India. It rises in the Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state, and flows in Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and in Tamil Nadu before reaching its confluence into the Bay of Bengal at Vayalur abo ...

. It is located near Thiruvalam, 7 km from Ponnai. Melpadi was a buffer state between the

Chalukya The Chalukya dynasty () was a Classical Indian dynasty that ruled large parts of southern and central India between the 6th and the 12th centuries. During this period, they ruled as three related yet individual dynasties. The earliest dynas ...

and

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 ...

dynasties.

Raja Raja Chola 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 ...

's grandfather died there. Choleeswara of

Arinjaya Chola Arinjaya Chola was a chola ruler of the Chola kingdom. He was the third son of Parantaka I and the younger brother of Gandaraditya Chola, whom he is thought to have succeeded in about 956. Arinjaya Chola was succeeded by his son Sundara Chola a ...

was built by Raja Raja Chola along with Somanatheeswarar temple in Melpadi. During the

Sangam period The Sangam period or age (, ), particularly referring to the third Sangam period, is the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka (then known as Tamilakam) spanning from c. 6th century BCE to c. 3rd century CE. ...

the place was under the classification of "Mullai" land. Melpadi means "village on the western bank of the river". The nearby village of Vinaygapuram hosts Vinayagar temple. During the Pallvas it was called Tunadu under Vanagopadi. It is an agricultural town where the investment grains that are produced consist of rice and peanuts and peanut oil. The town was famous once upon a time for the very fine tasting "Kechilisamba" variety of rice grain. The peanut oil grown here also has fine aroma and thin consistency. The town has its own post office, library, police station and local

panchayat The Panchayat raj is a political system, originating from the Indian subcontinent, found mainly in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal. It is the oldest system of local government in the Indian subcontinent, and historical ment ...

. Initially the town had two long streets set parallel to each other. Because the town is located very close to the Pallar River the wide mouth wells had a constant supply of water and were utilized for agriculture. Prior to electricity and motorized pumps, bullock carts were utilized to raise water from the wells and for ploughing. Most of the landowners hired farmhands for agricultural labor. As years passed by the landowners donated the lands to these farmhands as a gesture of gratitude and service for several generations. The town claims lot of pride due to their tradition for giving generously along the same lines as "chola dynasty".

References

Cities and towns in Vellore district Chola dynasty {{Vellore-geo-stub