The temple was once a renowned seat of the Bharata natyam dance form and
boasted of a separate dancer for each of the 32 adavu-s (அடவு, dance
movements). Most of the inhabitants of this village can trace their descent
from the Isai-vellala (மேளக்காரர், Melakarar) community.
Viralimalai has also lent its name to an exclusive kuravanji (குறவஞ்சி)
dance-drama. Shyamala Balakrishnan writes: "Thanks to these families (of
deva-dasi-s) the kuravanji named after Viralimalai has had an unbroken
tradition of practical exposition for nearly two centuries. On
Maha-siva-rathri (மகாசிவராத்திரி) night every year, till some fifteen years
back, they used to play the kuravanji (குறவஞ்சி) as an all-night show to
large admiring crowds of nobles, officials and ordinary folk, in front of
the mandapam below the foot of the hill. Almost every deva-dasi (தேவதாசி)
family of the place had a manyam (மானியம், land grant) for dance and two of
them, in particular, had special additional manyam for the Viralimalai
kuravanji. It was their business to keep alive the tradition of the
kuravanji, which they did until they were forced out of it owing to
socio-legal changes."
Other information
The natural caverns in the hillock show signs of early human habitation.
This place must have shared the fortunes of
Kodumbalur (கொடும்பாளுர்), which
is only about six km off. The presence of an early Chozha temple lends
support to the belief that Viralimalai (விராலிமலை) was a prosperous village
as early as the 9th century AD.
The sides of this hill have traditionally worn a coat of non-thorny
trees, mainly Wrightia (veppaalai, வெப்பாலை). Pea-fowl, in their hundreds,
have inhabited this hillside. They are to be encountered even now though
their numbers are much diminished.
|
