Ramabhadra Nayak

Vadakarai ('north bank') in Dindigul Taluk now forms part of that portion of Periyakulam municipality which lies north of the Varahanadi, but it was once the chief village of a palaiyam of the same name. According to one of the Mackenzie MSS, the original founder of this was Ramabhadra Nayaka, a Balija nayak by caste, who came from the Vijayanagar country with Kotikam Nagama Nayakkan of the same Balija caste.

Ramabhadra Nayaka seems to have been greatly trusted, as he was appointed to act for the latter while he was away on a pilgrimage to Benares; subsequently helped to arrange matters between him and his son; and was eventually made Military services and collector of the revenue of Madura. Later on he showed much personal bravery in an attack on the fort of Kambam, pressing forward notwithstanding a wound in the face and being the first to plant a flag on the ramparts. For this exploit he was granted the Vadakarai estate.

A successor of his was Machi Nayaka subsequently given charge of one of the 72 bastions of Madura. One of the best remembered of the poligars who followed is the Machi Nayaka who succeeded in 1549. He is said to have obtained an addition to his estate by his prowess in shooting an arrow across the Teppakulam in Madura in the presence of Tirumala Nayakkan and all his court, an achievement which none of the other poligars could equal. The event is still annually celebrated in Vadakarai by a general beat for small game (known as ' Machi Nayak's hunt') followed by a visit to his tomb in Kaikulankulam. A later Machi Nayaka is stated in the Mackenzie MS. to have helped Tirumala Nayakkan about 1638 against the rebellions Setupati of Ramnad; and his paternal uncle and successor Narayanappa Nayaka is said to have assisted Chokkanatha Nayakkan in his expedition against the Tanjore Nayakkan.

When the Mysoreans threatened Dindigul the then poligar of Vadakarai summoned a council of his commanders to devise measures of defence. It was not a success, as Gantamanayakkanur said that Vadakarai was taking too much upon him, and invaded his property and cut off his head (whence the two families still decline to dine together), but tradition has it that the Mysore people bore the matter in mind and confiscated the Vadakarai estate when they eventually captured the country.

In 1750 its owner assisted Bodinayakkanur in opposing the Collector's march through this part of the district. In 1859 it was resumed for arrears of peshkash and the poligar was granted an allowance which descends to the eldest son. He had considerable property independently of the palaiyam and when, in 1881, his son died, leaving an heir (the present holder, M.R.Ry. Dewan bahaddur V. Ramabhadra Nayudu Garu, Zamindar of Vadakarai and doddappanaikanur, Periyakulam, Madura District) who was a minor, the Court of Wards managed his estate until he attained his majority in December 1894. He has since distinguished himself as a patron of education, a protector of the Beautiful topes planted by his forebears in the neighbourhood, an experimenter in scientific agriculture, and the chairman of the Periyakulam municipal council.

References

*Madurai district gazetteers - madura - volume I - page 323, by Mr. W.Francis, Indian Civil Service, and printed by the superintendent, Government Press, Madras - 1906.