Keelathooval
| Keelakthooval | |
|---|---|
  Location in Tamil Nadu, India | |
| Location | Tirunelveli, India |
| Coordinates | 9°27′00″N 78°33′14″E / 9.45°N 78.554°E |
| Type | Cultural |
| State Party |
 India |
Keelathooval, in Tamil Nadu, India, is a village of some archaeological interest. It has six sites of archaeological importance.
Archeological Sites
Ayyanar and Kali Temple
The Ayyanar and Kali Temple is located two kilometers from the village, and has its own drinking water pond. The temple and the pond are preserved by the villagers for the annual festival. The large water pond used by the town for a swimming pool was deepened in the 1970s. When its floor was dug up, dozens of mudhumakkal Thazhis (burial urns) were discovered, along with earthen lamps and eating utensils, which were buried along with the urns in the belief that the dead may find light and food in the afterlife. These archaeological finds were reburied after their discovery.
Pallivasal
The Pallivasal (Tamil for mosque or madarasa) is near the kuttivila grove, about a kilometer to the east of the village, where the Paramakudi-Mudukulathur Road passes. The kuttivila trees are preserved by the local populace, who regard the trees as holy.
Seeraaa pallivaasal
The Seeraa pallivaasal, about four kilometers in the south eastern direction, is devoid of any structures, but the ilandai tree there is considered holy. Ilandai trees are rare in this part of the Ramnad district. This site may have been a holy place in the pre-10th century A.D, when the Arabs who came to trade and settled along the Coromandel coast, as Keelathooval is 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the Bay of Bengal.
Muniappa Samy Temple
The Muniappa Samy Temple, with its own holy pond, is of unknown origin, and the annual Maasi Kalari celebration is held here. The customs and rituals of these temples are looked after a family of hereditary trustees. The pond behind this temple is lined with huge banyan trees.
Kudumboorani
The Kudumboorani, with its holy tree, shelters a large variety of birds, as well as the remains of an ancient temple of Shiva. Stone pillars stand along with statues of deities and Soolayudam, the three pronged weapon of Shakti. The pond near this temple site is used as drinking water resource.
The living area of the people clusters in a circle around the temples of about four to five kilometers in diameter. The two headless standing statues of deities (or King and Queen) were vandalized during the pillage of Malik Kafur in A.D. 1311.
Hero Stone
The Hero Stone in front of the main Pillayar temple was removed, as it was located in the centre of a village pathway, though the location may have been a battle field. The tamarind tree next to the elementary school is also said to be standing on the site of a Muslim settlement which was destroyed by an invading force. Legend says that the women-folk of this entire community sealed themselves into a cellar underground so that they would not be defiled by the invaders. The place name Keelathooval means "Eastern Nest" in Malayalam, a language which is not spoken in the nearby area, but rather in the adjoining state of Kerala.
Ancestry
The present residents are traced to the lineage of the Sethupathy clan, which ruled the Ramnad Country from early 17th century till India's independence in 1947. In A.D. 1888, the king of Ramnad Bhaskara Sethupathy[1] married Sivapakkiam Nachiar, the daughter of Kannusamy Thevar of Thooval, who was a relative of the King. [2] When the present Prince of Ramand, Kasinatha Durai, also a former Member of the Parliament (Lok Sabha), visited the author in the 1990s, he confirmed that his grandmother was from Thooval.
Notes
- ↑ Royal patron
- ↑ Mannar Bhaskara Sethupathy by Dr. S.M. Kamal, Sharmila Printers, 1992