Viralimalai is a developing town and Suburb of city of
Tiruchirappalli
Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
, located in
Pudukkottai District
Pudukkottai District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern 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 ...
, 28 km from
Tiruchirappalli
Tiruchirappalli () ( formerly Trichinopoly in English), also called Tiruchi or Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with bein ...
in
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 ...
. The famous
Lord Shanmuganathar temple is situated on the top of the granite hill at Viralimalai. The temple was once a renowned seat of the
Bharatanatyam
Bharatanatyam () is a major form of Indian classical dance that originated in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the eight widely recognized Indian classical dance forms, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas, particularly of S ...
dance form and boasted of a separate dancer for each of the 32 ''adavu''s (dance movements).Arunagirinathar vizha(festival) also takes place each year in the Tamil month of aadi.
History
The natural caverns in the hillock show signs of early human habitation and may have shared the fortunes of
Kodumbalur
Kodumbalur is a village in Tamil Nadu, India. It is the site of the Moovar Koil temple complex.
Location
It is located at a distance of 35km from Trichy and 40km from Pudukkottai. The name Kodumbalur has been mentioned in the Tamil epic Cilappa ...
, 6 km away. The presence of an early
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 ...
temple suggests that Viralimalai was a prosperous village as early as the 9th century AD. The sides of this hill are covered with non-thorny trees, mainly
Wrightia
''Wrightia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1810. It native to tropical Africa, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Papuasia, and Australia. The species are all small trees or ...
. Viralimalai is home to an exclusive
kuravanji
''Kuravanji'' is a 1960 Indian Tamil language film directed by A. Kasilingam. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and Savitri. The film, produced by M. Karunanidhi, R. M. Veerappan, and A. Kasilingam, was released on 4 March 1960, and was not a comme ...
dance-drama. The kuravanji named after Viralimalai has had an unbroken tradition of presentation for nearly two centuries. On
Maha Shivaratri
Maha Shivaratri (IAST: Mahāśivarātri) is a Hindu festival celebrated annually in honour of the god Shiva. The name also refers to the night when Shiva performs the heavenly dance called Tandava.
In every month of the luni-solar Hindu ca ...
night every year, till 1993, the Kuravanji was played as an all-night show to large crowds of nobles, officials and ordinary folk, in front of the mandapam below the foot of the hill.
Peacock Sanctuary
Peacocks
Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera '' Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female peafowl are refe ...
are abundant in the region and Viralimalai forms a sanctuary for the birds. The town, Temple and Peacock Sanctuary have been declared and funded as a Heritage Place by order of the Governor.
[VIJAYA BASKER. C
Constituency : Viralimalai
Party : AIADMK]
Viralimalai tk
See also
*
Sathivayal
Notes
{{reflist
Viralimalai (tk)
Churches in Viralimalai:
Trinity Full Gospel Church, east car street, Viralimalai
St. Philip Neri Church, MGR Nagar, Viralimalai
Cities and towns in Pudukkottai district