Ramappayyan, a commander to the king Tirumalai Nayak, who came to Palani, refused to accept the’ prasada’ offered by the traditional non-Brahmin Pandaram priest, citing him as a man of low caste.
The members of the community ‘Pandaram’ whose occupation is stringing flowers, and making garlands and wreaths, were once traditional priests in the temples of Tamil Nadu. Nevertheless, on a day in the 17th century CE, they were dismissed from the sanctum sanctorum and replaced by the Brahmin priests in the hill shrine of Palani, which was demarcated as the southern border of the ancient Kongunadu..
“Though the term ‘Pandaram’ is colloquially misused to mean a pauper, the primary meaning of the term is ’treasure-house’ where valuable things including gold, silver and pearls were treasured in the temples of ancient times. Similar to the government treasuries, ‘temple treasuries’ too functioned in Tamil Nadu. With ‘Pandaram’ meaning a treasury, an inscription of the Pandya king Sundarapandian mentions even the room, where religious and devotional books were stored, as‘Saraswathy Pandaram’ ' says the late Tho. Paramasivan, a famed cultural historian, in his popular book Panpaattu Asaivugal (Signals of culture)
Paramasivan informs that the present-day members of the ‘Pandaram’ community got their caste name from their ancestors, for their being as security guards to the ‘Pandarams’ (temple treasuries)
“The yesteryear Pandaram community members sat at the temples leisurely, stringed flowers, and guarded the temple treasuries. Moreover, they also maintained the trees and flower plants at the temple Nandavanam (Flower garden). The large stone planks, which were provided to them for stringing flowers in ancient times, have been discovered in many of the large temples of Tamil Nadu. Some of the stone planks even contain inscriptions” adds Paramasivan, who was also the former Head, Department of Tamil, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli.
Paramasivan points out that the guards of temple treasuries were also traditional priests and performed poojas to the deities in the shrines for centuries. Later on, during the Naicker rule in the 17th century CE, they were deprived of their traditional rights to perform poojas, and Brahmins were appointed in their place.
Standing testimony to this, the Ramappayyan Cheppedu, a copper plate grant, has recorded how the Pandarams were replaced by the Brahmin priests in Arulmigu Dhandayuthapani Swamy Temple in Palani. The copper plate grant, which has been published in the book Palani Varalaatru Aavanangal (Historical documents of Palani), compiled by Pulavar Se.Rasu, a noted Kongu historian, and former Head of the Department of Epigraphy and Archaeology, Tamil University, Thanjavur, reads thus:
“The idol of Lord Muruga in the Palani hill shrine was created by Bogar, a Tamil Siddhar (Mystic), and worshiped by him. Later on, the poojas were conducted by the descendants of Pulipaani Paathiramudayar, the disciple of Bogar. However, Ramappayyan, a commander to the king Tirumalai Nayak, who came to Palani, refused to accept the’ prasada’ offered by the traditional non-Brahmin Pandaram priest, citing him a man of low caste. Hence, he replaced the traditional Pandaram priests by the Brahmin Sivachariyas”
The copper plate grant informs that the Brahmin priests Saraswathy Ayyan, Thambaa Ayyan, Subba Ayyan , and Muthu Ayyan from Kodumudi, Maruthur, Nattarappan Koyil and Karuvur respectively from the Kongu region were appointed as priests in the Palani Murugan temple.
“Most members of the present day Pandaram community, who eke out a living as garland makers by the temple courtyards and flower shops, hardly know how they lost their traditional priesthood in the temples of Tamil Nadu,” says R. Jegadeesan, a noted epigraphist and author of the book Kongunaattu Kalvettukkal – Koyamputhur Vattam (Inscriptions of Kongunadu – Coimbatore circle)