It is here a famous battle was waged. In 1780 and 1781 Hider Ali overran
the Tamil country. After taking over Thanjavur (தஞ்சாவூர்) he was entering the
Tondaiman (தொண்டைமான்) territory. The village could keep the invader at bay, thanks to the cunning
strategy of an inhabitant of the village. Gandhara (காந்தாரா) was an enterprising,
widely travelled Brahmin. Being a linguist, he spoke to the leader of the army
in Hindustani and invited the army for a grand feast arranged in its honour. The
exhausted army readily agreed. During the feast and the repast, the Tondaiman
army surrounded them and they had no other way except to retreat. But when the
army returned after a few days the Pudukkottai (புதுக்கோட்டை) army was well prepared. A man
concealed himself in the hollow trunk of a tree and shot the commander of
the Hider force.
This contributed to the defeate of Hider Ali. The British were overjoyed.
In the 18th century the Tondaiman ruler gave away the village
to the Brahmins as Brahmadeyam (பிரம்மதேயம்). There exists an agraharam (அக்ரஹாரம்)
as a result. The traveller's bungalow was built in 1833 for the use of the Collector
of Thanjavur, who was, at the time, ex-officio political agent of the Pudukkottai
State.
The presiding deity of the Siva temple is named Kulottungesvara (குலோத்துங்கேஸ்வரர்)
after King Kulottunga Chozha (குலோத்துங்க சோழன்) who installed the lingam.
Adhanakkottai finds
mention in a partially defaced inscription on the walls of a ruined Sastha temple
(சாஸ்தா கோயில்).
This inscription refers to the village as Adan-oor-kottai (ஆதனூர்கோட்டை), meaning
the fort of Adan’s village. There is, however, no trace of a fort. The inscription
also mentions a Siva temple built during the reign of Kulottunga III, a Mariamman
(மாரியம்மன்) temple and a temple for Ayyanar (அய்யனார்), none of which could
be found today.
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