Maruthur

Maruthur is a village in the Palayamkottai Block, Palayam kottai taluk Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, in India. It belongs to both the Nanguneri assembly constituency and the Tirunelveli parliamentary constituency. The village is surrounded by wetlands and paddy fields. The main occupation of the population is agriculture. In the summer, pulses are grown as a relay crop. There are three tanks to irrigate the paddy crop, and the Palayam channel of Thamirabharani irrigation system acts as a feeding channel for the tanks. Thamirabharani river flows on the eastern side of the village.

History

A thousand years ago there was a king (likely from the Pandya dynasty) named Kulasekara Pandian, who ruled a small territory called Manapadai veedu, in Tirunelveli. He had two daughters named Maruthavalli and Cholavalli. Oorkattu mannan, who ruled a place near Kallidaikurichi, wanted to marry both Maruthavalli and Cholavalli. Therefore, Oorkattu mannan threatened to invade Kulasekara's territory if he did not give his daughters in marriage to Oorkattu mannan.

Upon learning the news, the princesses were shocked, but they refused to marry Oorkattu mannan, citing the age factor. As a result, Oorkattu mannan planned to kidnap both of the princesses. When the princesses learned Oorkattu mannan's plan, they decided to commit suicide by drowning themselves in the river Thamirabharani. By God's grace, both princess were transformed into lemons, and they reached the riverbanks of the now so-called Maruthur.

Every night,a poet named Kavirayar used to meditate on the riverbanks of Maruthur. He used to take a bath in the river before he started his meditation. On a particular day doing so, he found the lemons by accident. The lemons transformed into Maruthavalli and Cholavalli. Kavirayar was shocked and asked for the reason, upon which the girls narrated.

Kavirayar was amazed by the beauty of Maruthavalli and Cholavalli and expressed his desire to marry both of them. On hearing this, they were shocked. To escape from him, they told him that if Kavirayar would build a dam across the river Thamiraparani before sunrise, they would marry him.

He readily accepted the condition, and began to sing a song. The rocks and stones started rolling from a nearby mountain near Vallanadu and fell into the river and formed a dam. The whole dam was constructed before sunrise. On seeing the dam, both Maruthavalli and Cholavalli were astonished and to escape from Kavirayar, both of them fell onto the dead pot and they committed suicide. Oorkattu Mannan built a temple in the memory of Maruthavalli and Cholavalli at that place where they committed suicide and he appointed Kavirayar to take care of the temple.

In the memory of Maruthavalli and since the place consists mainly of Marutham lands, the place came to be known as Maruthur.

Adi-Marutheeswar and Navaneetha krishnan temples

At the centre of Maruthur, the Adi-Marutheeswar and Vishalakshi temple was built by Uoorkattu Pandian. The temple was renovated in 1969 by Mr P.Chithirai Pandian, fondly called "Chairman" by the people, as he was chairman of Palayamkottai Union at that time. In addition, another temple, the Navaneetha Krishnan temple, is also located in the village and is frequently visited by peoples from the nearby areas.

At present, Maruthur has 4 ponds, and 1,007 acres (4.08 km²) of agricultural land.