Uthamadhanapuram
| Uthamadhanapuram உத்தமதானபுரம் |
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 India
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| State : | Tamil Nadu | ||
| District : | Tiruvarur | ||
| Sub-district : | Valangaiman | ||
| Location : | 10 ° 55 ' N , 79 ° 17' E | ||
| Residents : | 912 (2011) | ||
Uthamadhanapuram ( Tamil : உத்தமதானபுரம் Uttamatāṉapuram [ ˈut̪ːəməˌd̪aːnəˌpurʌm ]; also Uthamadanapuram, Uttamadanapuram ) is a village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu . It is located in the Kaveri Delta about two kilometers southeast of the city of Papanasam . Administratively, Uthamadhanapuram belongs to the Taluk Valangaiman of the Tiruvarur district . The population is around 900 (2011 census).
Uthamadhanapuram is the hometown of the important Tamil philologist UV Swaminatha Iyer (1855–1942). Although he was born in Sooriyamoolai , his mother's hometown, and spent most of his childhood elsewhere, Swaminatha Iyer always considered Uthamadhanapuram to be his hometown as his paternal family came from here. In his autobiography Swaminatha Iyer gives the founding legend of the village: According to this, in the 18th century the king of Thanjavur stopped at the site of today's Uthamadhanapuram on a journey through his territory. He had taken a vow of fasting but forgot and chewed betel . When he noticed his mistake, as a penance he immediately decided to found a Brahmin settlement ( Agraharam ) on the spot and donated land to 48 Brahmin families. Therefore, the place was named Uttamadānapuram ( Sanskrit for "city of the most excellent donation"). According to Swaminatha Iyer, members of various brahmin castes lived in the village during his childhood, as well as low-caste farmers who tilled the lands owned by the brahmins.
The village of Uthamadhanapuram consists of only two streets, one running east-west and one running north-south. At the western end of the east-west street is a temple of the Hindu god Vishnu , who is venerated here under the name Lakshmi Narayana Perumal, and at the southern end of the north-south street is the Kailasanathar temple, dedicated to the god Shiva . A memorial has been in existence in UV Swaminatha Iyer's childhood home since 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Census of India 2011: Primary Census Abstract Data Tables: Thiruvarur.
- ^ UV Swaminatha Iyer: The Story of My Life, translated by Kamil V. Zvelebil, Volume 1, Madras: Institute of Asian Studies, 1990, pp. 1-5.
- ↑ Swaminatha Iyer 1990, p. 2.
- ↑ The Hindu, April 28, 2008: “U.Ve Swaminatha Iyer memorial inaugurated”.