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NAMMA MADURAI

A revered grove

Photo:G. Moorthy

Serene Thavamuniyandi Temple Grove at Kodimangalam

The city of temples is also a city of surprises. One such surprise rests for years along the Natham Road. As you drive towards Natham, take a right turn towards T. Kodimangalam after Tirumalpuram. About 600 metres from the main road there is a grove that is considered sacred by locals.

The Thavamuniyandi Temple Grove, now a project site of the Chennai-based C.P. R. Environmental Education Centre, is a classic example of how a disciplined village can protect its environment.

Lined up inside the grove are huge trees, some of them said to be a couple of hundred years old.

Though very much on the roadside, no person is allowed to enter the grove with footwear on. Villagers venerate the grove for the ‘temple’ of Thavamuniyandi located at the farther end and also consider the terrain sacred.

What used to be a place of congregation for residents of T.Kodimangalam several years back is now a haven for birds. You can lose yourself here in the cacophony of birds, albeit the occasional noise is created by passing vehicles.

“I remember playing under the shade of these huge trees as a student,” recalls K. Ramalingam, an advocate. But no person in the village is able to trace the origin of the grove.

“Nobody knows the origin of the grove. It must be several generations old,” says T. Pradhaban, who is fourth in line to get honours at the temple. All they can say is that an anonymous person, who stayed in the grove, wished that he be referred to as ‘Thavamuniyandi.’ After his death, he was interred at the farther end of the grove. A huge ‘peetam’ made of stone slabs, which stands on his grave, is the ‘temple’ of Thavamuniyandi. A person nominated from the Velar community performs pujas at the temple on Fridays. Devotees nail bronze bells on the surrounding trees after their wishes get fulfilled. Its annual festival is celebrated during the Tamil month of ‘Panguni.’

“Only plantain is offered as ‘prasadam’ here. Breaking of coconut is not allowed. During the festival, it is quite a sight to see thousands of plantains being hurled at devotees from the ‘peetam,’ ” Mr. Ramalingam says.

One has to walk past a thorny terrain to reach the other end of the grove. It is an experience, as you realise how small you are when compared to these giant trees whose deeply entrenched roots jut out like varicose veins. There are ‘naaval,’ ‘marudam,’ ‘vaagai,’ ‘puliyan,’ ‘karuvelam,’ palm and ‘sappotta’ trees.

All kinds of ants, insects, serpents, peacocks and peahens reside in the grove. Recently, a group of 110 monkeys was snared here and shifted to nearby Alagarkoil. There are also dead trees which have been allowed to decay.

“We do not touch the trees. Nobody has the right to remove even a twig from the grove. If a tree falls into our land, we do not touch it,” says K. Ramakrishnan, president, T. Kodimangalam panchayat.

The beauty of the grove is that it rejuvenates itself. But no effort has been made to plant new trees. It also has rare medicinal plants.

“Ours is the only village in the area to provide native medicine for snake bite,” prides Mr. Ramalingam.

C. P. R. Environmental Education Centre has chosen this project site with the objective of protecting the sacred grove, in coordination with Madurai Institute of Peace Science and Sakthi Mahalir Sangams, T. Kodimangalam.

Is it free from poaching? Three huge trees, one of them with hundreds of temple bells, have vanished without trace is all Mr. Ramalingam could say.

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