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Kallidaikurichi () is a town on the right bank of the Thamiraparani river in Ambasamudram Taluk of Tirunelveli District in Tamil Nadu, a southern state of India. Like any Indian rural town, this town too is steeped in tradition and rich in heritage, struggling to hold on to its past glories. Here the modern co-exist peacefully with the bullock-carts and rickshaws of yesterday years Kallidaikurichi, endowed with a rich heritage, is dotted with many ancient Hindu shrines in each street in each gramam of the village. These are of ancient temple architecture style having high-rise gopurams (ornamental gateways of temples) with intricate sculptures, heralding the past glory of this region. Muthuswami Dikshitar, the Great carnatic composer, whose songs abound with geographic and iconographic references, sings of the curative properties of the river Thamiraparani. To him, the Goddess at Tirunelveli, is Hima-saila-sutaa (daughter of the mountain snow). The local language is Tamil. Adivaraha Perumal temple represents the principal deity of the present day Kallidaikurichi. This town in the south Tamil Nadu is located about 70 km north of Kanyakumari (Cape Comerin). Tirunelveli and Palayamkottai are two towns (twin towns) nearby, about 35 km away. Indian Railways serves Kallidaikurichi and it is easily reachable by road from Tirunelveli and Nagarcoil. Nearby Airports are the Madurai Domestic Airport in Tamil Nadu - about 250 km away and Trivandrum International Airport in Kerala - about 145 km away. Rice is the main crop here. Other crops are groundnut (peanuts), chilies (red pepper) and cotton, though these are seen less frequently nowadays. Kallidaikurichi and appalam are almost synonymous. Appalam making is a major cottage industry here. It is nationally known for its quality and taste and is sent almost all over India. Like most parts of Tamil Nadu, the climate here too is rather hot, except during the rainy season of the November/December months. During summer strong gusty winds are a frequent occurrence. Utilizing this energy is the large wind energy farm at Aralvaimozhi, about 40 km from here, with over 2500 of windmills generating electricity. == History == Kallidaikurichi is aptly named. 'Kal + idai + kurichi' meaning exactly, a village in the midst of hills. In Sanskrit it has been faithfully translated in the 'Bhojanadi' (an astrological treatise) as 'Shilaa - madhya - Hariswam'. In the Thamrabarani Mahatmya of the Matsya Purama, it has been translated as 'Shila - Shalipuram'. Kallidaikurichi must have existed as a hunting village for centuries. Prior to the construction of its famous irrigation canal, the Kannadiyan canal, it might have been just a humble, hunting place for wild animals. Therku Kallidaikurichi (South Kallidaikurichi) in the revenue village still remains mostly a forest of palm trees, within which are patches of rain fed dry lands, interspersed with a few, low and rocky hills. / *One testimony to the richness of its economy, culture and traditions, is the fact that the people of this hamlet seem to have celebrated many weddings, the streets resonating with the customary Nadaswaram Music. This garnered it a new appellation, given by the Sankaracharya of Sringeri Sri Narasimha Bharathi Mahaswamigal, who called it "Kalyanapuri"—Kalyanam, meaning, wedding in the Tamil language. Kallidaikurichi is on the border between the Pandya and the Chera countries of the past. The distance, as the crow flies between Kallidaikurichi and Thiruvananthapuram is less than fifty miles (75 km approx.), although the road, either from south via Nagarcoil or from north via Shencottai takes about 100 miles (150 km). A determined and sturdy person can easily climb the bridle paths and move between hills, without undue exertion. The boundary between the Pandya and Chera Kings was subject to frequent changes, this way or that way, depending on who felt the more powerful between the two of them, at any point of time. At times the Pandyas drove deep into Kerala and reaching up to Kanetti near Karunagapally. At other times the Cheras went up to Madurai and beyond. At one point the Cheras held in their hands the entire south India, for a tantalizing brief period of five years. Kallidaikurichi got accustomed to these changes to her fortune, and readily absorbed the characteristics of both streams of culture and language. Kallidaikurichi-Ambasamudram-Alwarkurichi areas form the upper level of Thamirabarani irrigation system today. In the past it would have been a densely wooded area. The earlier name of Alwarkurichi was 'Kaderu' indicating the forest boundary. The Thamiraparani - Gadananathi River areas were colonized during the Chola conquest of Pandya country in the 10th century. The colonists from the Chola country came along with the Viceroy, Sundara Chola Pandya in 1017-18 and formed new townships and cultivated the newly converted forest lands. If one took a close look at the inscriptions at the Vedanarayana temple at Mannarkoil village, one can read that the temple was built during the time of this Viceroy. This temple was called 'Rajendra Vinnagaram' and formed a part of the big Brahmadayam village of 'Rajaraja Chaturvedi Mangalam' in Mullinadu in the 'Mudikonda Chola Valanadu' of Raja Raja Pandinadu. The hamlets of 'Ilangokudi' (today's Ambasamudram), Kallidaikurichi, Attala Nallur, Vazuthiyoor, Alwarkurichi,Poovankurichi and Pappankurichi were parts of this big Brahmadayam village (now Brahmadesam). 'Ilangokkudi' or Ambasamudram has a history going back to the 7th century and earlier. The Thirupothudaya Nayanar Temple (now known as Erichavudayar Temple) on the northern bank of the Tamirabarani between Ambasamudram and Kallidaikurichi has a grant given by the Pandya Emperor. The new settlers gave the new villages, names similar to their old villages. Examples are Thiruppudaimaruthur, Cholakula Manikkam (now Vellanguli), Then Thiruvanam and Thenthiruvarur (now Idaikal) etc. Though Vedanarayana temple, Mannarkoil, in its present form, might have been built by the Cholas, it does not imply that there was no temple there earlier. Mannarkoil has always been in the list of 108 holy places of Vaishnavites. According to tradition, the great Alwar, Kulasekhara Varman, of Mahodayapuram (modern Kodungallur in Kerala) who ruled Chera between 800 and 825 had worshiped at this temple and shifted his mortal Koil here. This may not be untrue as we find that 400 years later one Vasudevan Kesavan alias Sendalangaradasan is permitted by Jata Varman Kulasekara Pandyan (1190–1217) to build a temple for the Alwar, within the princenets of the main temple. This devotee who hailed from Malanadu (Kerala) and the Pandya King would not have taken this trouble unless they believed that tradition has truth in it. Perhaps the earlier temple was one of wood and other perishable materials. In south India stone temples became popular only after advent of the Pallavas. Raja Raja's titles included the expressions of 'Manabharana' and 'Kshatriya Shikhamani'. After the Pandya conquest, Raja Raja established Brahmin settlements at Manabharanallur (present day Manaramangalam) Kshatriya Shikhamani Puram (Kallidaikurichi) apart from Brahmadesam. Kallidaikurichi seems to have had the following subdivisions - Madakkurichi, Velankurichi, Cherakumaran and Kallidaikurichi. It seems Brahmadesam which had tank irrigation at that time as it is now, was a better place for settlement of Brahmins. The irrigation canal (Kannadiyan Canal) at Kallidaikurichi, which made Kallidaikurichi very fertile, must have come into being only after Chola conquest was reversed by the second Pandyan Empire. The second Empire was established by Mara Varman Sundara Pandya I, taking advantage of the weak successors of Kulothunga Chola III (1178–1216). While doing so the Pandya had to be wary of the newly risen dynasty of Hoysala in South Karnataka, which were pro Chola in at first and became pro Pandya only later on. There were several marriage alliances between the two Royal families. The Hoysalas and the Pandyas divided the former Chola territories amicably between themselves. According to local tradition, it was a Kannadiga Physician (physician from Karnataka) who caused the famous 'Kannadiyan canal' to be constructed starting from the confluence of Thamiraparani river with Manimuthar river, a mile west of Kallidaikurichi. The Kannadiyan physician refused to receive the munificent reward the local King pressed on him, and instead arranged for the execution of this important public work. In view of the close friendship that existed between the two neighbors during the 13th century. There are no improbabilities in this traditional account. It has to be remembered that the Kalingarayan and Thadapally canals in Coimbatore district were also constructed by Kannadiga rulers. Perhaps the Kanndiga physician was also an irrigation engineer. So one can safely assume that the Kannadiyan canal irrigation system was constructed some time in the second half of the thirteenth century, by the Pandya King with the help from the Hoysala Kingdom.
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