Keelathooval

Keelathooval, in Tamil Nadu, India, is a a village of some archaeological interest. It has seven sites of archaeological importance.

The sites are:The Ayyanar and Kali Temple located two kilometers from the present settlement with its own ‘drinking water’ pond. The temple and the pond are preserved by the villagers for the annual festival. The banyan trees adjoining the temple are reputed to have sheltered armies and now they shelter the celebratory crowds during the annual festivals of the temple. They are fascinating play grounds for the children who swing from their unique secondary hanging roots, which also perpetuate the tree by growing into replacement trunks of the tree.

The large water pond used by the town for a swimming pool was deepened in the seventies. When its floor was dug up, tens of ‘mudhumakkal Thazhis’ (burial urns) were revealed with earthen lamps and eating utensils in the belief that the dead may find light and food in their afterlife. Such finds are archaeological evidence of ancient cultures and their customs of dealing with the very old and the dead. The locals, unaware of the importance of their ‘excavation’, covered the site, with due reverence to the dead.

The Pallivasal (Tamil for a mosque or madarasa) near the Kuttivila grove, about a kilometer to the east of the village, where the Paramakudi-Mudukulathur Road passes through). The legend refers to the site as a mosque or madarasa. The site has a grove of Kuttivila trees, which are considered to be holy by the local populace and preserved, even from the children who get curious to explore the trees and pluck the Kuttivila fruits, which is sweet when ripe.

The wisdom and the instinct of the villagers in protecting and preserving their heritage sites through ages, by declaring them holy places and preventing any activity which could mean lack of respect and hence indifference. They observe rituals and traditions with considerable initiative and organizing skills. The Seeraa pallivaasal, about four kilometers in the south eastern direction, is devoid of any structures, and the Ilandai tree is revered to be holy at this site. Ilandai trees are rare in this part of the Ramnad district. This site could 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, started moving inland. Keelathooval is 20 kilometres from the Bay of Bengal. All other evidences of any structures existing in this place have become extinct long back. The site retains its importance through the traditional legends and rituals of this area.

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.The Kudumboorani, with its holy tree, shelters a large number and variety of birds and the remains of an ancient temple of Shiva. The stone pillars stand with the statues of deities and Soolayudam, the three pronged weapon of Sakthi, the consort of Lord Shiva. The pond near this temple-site is used as drinking water resource, because of its clean catchment area. The rituals and traditional worships of the temple are being carried out by the villagers.

The temples-cum-ponds suggests that the settlement was located around the temples and ponds. 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 1311 A.D.

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 must 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. In memory of those people, this place is known by the tamarind tree which stands at the site. The place name Keelathooval is interesting, since it means the ‘Eastern Nest’ in Malayalam language which is not spoken in these parts, but in the adjoining state of Kerala.

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 1888 A.D., the king of Ramnad Bhaskara Sethupathy married Sivapakkiam Nachiar, the daughter of Kannusamy Thevar of Thooval, who was a relative of the King. (Ref: Mannar Bhaskara Sethupathy by Dr. S.M. Kamal, Sharmila Printers, 1992). 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.