The prefix 'Samala' in the name of the village 'Samalapuram' near Somanur in the present day Tirupur district, must be a corruption of 'Shyamala', which is one of the different names of Lord Shiva's wife like Sakthi, Parvathi, Eswari and so on. The village, known for its great number of power loom units today, could have been called by a different name until a tale on the two wives of a Chola king got popular in the Kongu region.
The prefix 'Samala' in the name of the village 'Samalapuram' near Somanur in the present day Tirupur district, must be a corruption of 'Shyamala', which is one of the different names of Lord Shiva's wife like Sakthi, Parvathi, Eswari and so on. The village, known for its great number of power loom units today, could have been called by a different name until a tale on the two wives of a Chola king got popular in the Kongu region.
Cholan Poorva Pattayam, a copper plate discovered by Kovai Kizhar C.M. Ramachandran Chettiar, the first historian of Coimbatore, says that the king Uthama Chola's two wives Singammal and Shyamalammal arrived in Kongunadu, escaping the 'Manmari' (Rain of mud) which submerged Urayur, the capital of the early Cholas.
The historical document states that the destruction of Urayur was a divine effect after Uthama Chola's killing his own son for the latter’s crime of slaying a calf under his chariot wheels. Nonetheless, Thakkayaka Parani, a literary work penned by the popular Tamil poet Ottakuthar, accuses a group of Jains for the cause of the calamity saying that they only brought it by their power of penance.
Following the catastrophe, when Singammal and Shyamalammal reached Kongunadu, the former is said to be pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy, who was later crowned as Karikala.
Karikala, who is credited in his mission of constructing hundreds of Shiva temples in the Kongu region and as many as 32 check dams across river Noyyal, also founded two new villages in Coimbatore and named them as Singanallur and Shyamalapuram after his mother Singammal and aunt Shyamalammal respectively. He also gifted the villages as Sathurvethi Mangalams to the Brahmins.
Substantiating the point, the Sthalapurana or the temple history of the Sozheeswarar shrine in Samalapuram informs that two Brahmins by name Chandra Pattar and Rama Pattar, representing their community members, received the gifts of the two villages respectively.
Though Cholan Poorva Pattayam was the only book, which mentions the chain of events from the destruction of Urayur to the gifting of the Sathurvedhimangalams, the recent discovery of a stone inscription at the Perumal temple in Samalapuram has strengthened the authenticity of the information found in the book.
The damaged inscription, which dates back to 13th century A.D., has recorded that the members of a Naattusabai ( A local administrative body) in Vayaraikanaadu, a division of ancient Kongunadu, had made a gift to the Perumal temple. Proving the point that Samalapuram was an Agraharam or the colony of Brahmins once, a line in the inscription mentions it ' Samaladevi Sathurvedhimangalam'
Moreover, a farmland in Samalapuram being called as 'Gopala Iyer Thottam' even today, throws light on the fact that Brahmins too have owned and cultivated lands ever since the village was gifted to them as Sathurvedhimangalams.
Cholan Poorva Pattayam, a copper plate discovered by Kovai Kizhar C.M. Ramachandran Chettiar, the first historian of Coimbatore, says that the king Uthama Chola's two wives Singammal and Shyamalammal arrived in Kongunadu, escaping the 'Manmari' (Rain of mud) which submerged Urayur, the capital of the early Cholas.
The historical document states that the destruction of Urayur was a divine effect after Uthama Chola's killing his own son for the latter’s crime of slaying a calf under his chariot wheels. Nonetheless, Thakkayaka Parani, a literary work penned by the popular Tamil poet Ottakuthar, accuses a group of Jains for the cause of the calamity saying that they only brought it by their power of penance.
Following the catastrophe, when Singammal and Shyamalammal reached Kongunadu, the former is said to be pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy, who was later crowned as Karikala.
Karikala, who is credited in his mission of constructing hundreds of Shiva temples in the Kongu region and as many as 32 check dams across river Noyyal, also founded two new villages in Coimbatore and named them as Singanallur and Shyamalapuram after his mother Singammal and aunt Shyamalammal respectively. He also gifted the villages as Sathurvethi Mangalams to the Brahmins.
Substantiating the point, the Sthalapurana or the temple history of the Sozheeswarar shrine in Samalapuram informs that two Brahmins by name Chandra Pattar and Rama Pattar, representing their community members, received the gifts of the two villages respectively.
Though Cholan Poorva Pattayam was the only book, which mentions the chain of events from the destruction of Urayur to the gifting of the Sathurvedhimangalams, the recent discovery of a stone inscription at the Perumal temple in Samalapuram has strengthened the authenticity of the information found in the book.
The damaged inscription, which dates back to 13th century A.D., has recorded that the members of a Naattusabai ( A local administrative body) in Vayaraikanaadu, a division of ancient Kongunadu, had made a gift to the Perumal temple. Proving the point that Samalapuram was an Agraharam or the colony of Brahmins once, a line in the inscription mentions it ' Samaladevi Sathurvedhimangalam'
Moreover, a farmland in Samalapuram being called as 'Gopala Iyer Thottam' even today, throws light on the fact that Brahmins too have owned and cultivated lands ever since the village was gifted to them as Sathurvedhimangalams.