Agraharam

Quality 0.50 · 4 views · Updated 2 months ago

Historical Indian land grant to Brahmins

title: "Agraharam" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["society-of-karnataka", "tamil-society", "brahmin-communities"] description: "Historical Indian land grant to Brahmins" topic_path: "general/society-of-karnataka" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agraharam" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Historical Indian land grant to Brahmins ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/99/Bhaskararajapuram_agraharam.jpg" caption="An ''Agraharam'' in [[Thanjavur District]], [[Tamil Nadu"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Agraharam.jpg" caption="An Agraharam from [[Tirunelveli]] assembled within the [[DakshinaChitra]] museum."] ::

An Agraharam ( or ) was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in ancient Tamilakam and in modern times in southern part of India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to sustain their families. Agraharams were also known as in ancient times. They were also known as ghatoka, and boya. Agraharams were built and maintained by dynasties such as the Pandya, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas, Vijayanagara and other Deccan dynasties since ancient times.

They were known by different names in different parts of India, like Sāsana in Odisha. The name Agraharam originates from the fact that the agraharams have lines of houses on either side of the road and the temple to the village god at the centre, thus resembling a garland around the temple. According to the traditional Hindu practice of architecture and town-planning, an agraharam is held to be two rows of houses running north–south on either side of a road at one end of which would be a temple to Shiva and at the other end, a temple to Vishnu. An example is Vadiveeswaram in Tamil Nadu.

With Brahmins taking up professions in urban areas and some migrating abroad, Agraharams are vanishing fast. Many of the traditional houses are giving way to concrete structures and commercial buildings. Agraharams were started in south India during the Pallava period since they followed Vedas. Initially, the Agraharam was maintained fully using royal patronage but later the Agraharam become a self-sustaining economy.

History

An early example of an existing description of an agraharam has been found in a 3rd-century CE Sangam poem called Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai. The poem is composed in the Akaval meter and consists of 500 lines.

(1) Iyengar's Version — in Akaval meter

பைஞ்சேறு மெழுகிய படிவ நன்னகர்

மனையூறை கோழியொடு ஞமலி தன்னுது

வளைவாய்க் கிள்ளை மறைவிளி பயிற்று

மறைகாப் பாள ருறைபதிச் சேப்பீற்

பெருநல் வானத்து வடவயின் விளங்குஞ்

சிறுமீன் புரையுங் கற்பி னறுநுதல்

வளைக்கை மகடூஉ வயினரறிக் தட்ட

சுடர்க்கடைப் பறவைப் பெயர்ப்படு வத்தஞ்

சேதா நறுமோர் வெண்ணெயின் மாதுளத்

துருப்புறு பசுங்காய்ப் போழொடு கறிகலந்து

கஞ்சக நறுமுறி யளைஇப் பைந்துணர்

நெடுமரக் கொக்கி னறுவடி விதிர்த்த

தகைமாண் காடியின் வகைபடப் பெறுகுவிர்.

Ceḻuṅkaṉ ṟiyātta ciṟutāṭ pantarp paiñcēṟu meḻukiya paṭiva naṉṉakar

maṉaiyūṟai kōḻiyoṭu ñamali taṉṉutu

vaḷaivāyk kiḷḷai maṟaiviḷi payiṟṟu

maṟaikāp pāḷar uṟaipatic cēppīṟ

perunal vāṉattu vaṭavayiṉ viḷaṅkuñ

ciṟumīṉ puraiyuṅ kaṟpiṉ naṟunutal

vaḷaikkai makaṭū'u vayiṉaraṟik taṭṭa

cuṭarkkaṭaip paṟavaip peyarppaṭu vattañ

cētā naṟumōr veṇṇeyiṉ mātuḷat

turuppuṟu pacuṅkāyp pōḻoṭu kaṟikalantu

kañcaka naṟumuṟi yaḷai'ip paintuṇar

neṭumarak kokkiṉ naṟuvaṭi vitirtta

takaimāṇ kāṭiyiṉ vakaipaṭap peṟukuvir.|author=P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar quotes the original author |title= II (297-310)|source=}}

(2) Iyengar's Translation

(3) Modern editorial Tamil rendering (Govindhanar, 1996)

பைஞ் சேறு மெழுகிய படிவ நல் நகர்,

மனை ஊறை கோழியோடு ஞமலி துன்னாது,

வளைவாய்க் கிள்ளை மறைவிளி பயிற்றும்

மறை காப்பாளர் உறை பதிச் சேப்பின்,

பெருநல் வானத்து வடவியன் விளங்கும்

சிறு மீன் புரையும் கற்பின் நறு நுதல்,

வளைக்கை மகடூஉ வயின் அறிந்து அட்ட,

சுடர்க் கடைப் பறவைப் பெயர்ப் படு வத்தம்,

சேதா நறுமோர் வெண்ணெயின் மாதுளத்து

உருப்புறு பசுங்காய்ப் பொழோடு கறிகலந்து,

கஞ்சக நறு முறி அளைஇப் பைந்துணர்

நெடுமரக் கொக்கின் நறுவடி விதிர்த்த

தகைமாண் காடியின் வகை படப் பெறுகுவிர்.

Ceḻum kaṉṟu yātta ciṟutāḷ pantar

paiñ cēṟu meḻukiya paṭiva nal nakar,

maṉai ūṟai kōḻiyōṭu ñamali tuṉṉātu,

vaḷaivāyk kiḷḷai maṟaiviḷi payiṟṟum

maṟai kāppāḷar uṟai patic cēppiṉ,

perunal vāṉattu vaṭaviyaṉ viḷaṅkum

ciṟu mīṉ puraiyum kaṟpiṉ naṟu nutal,

vaḷaikkai makaṭū'u vayiṉ aṟintu aṭṭa,

cuṭark kaṭaip paṟavaip peyarp paṭu vattam,

cētā naṟumōr veṇṇeyiṉ mātuḷattu

uruppuṟu pacuṅkāyp poḻōṭu kaṟikalantu,

kañcaka naṟu muṟi aḷai'ip paintuṇar

neṭumarak kokkiṉ naṟuvaṭi vitirtta

takaimāṇ kāṭiyiṉ vakai paṭap peṟukuvir.|author=K. Govindhanar|title= II (297-310)|source=}}

Places with the name ''Agraharam'' or ''Agrahara''

Andhra Pradesh

There are a number of places in Andhra Pradesh named agraharam. These places may have originated as Bramhin-populated villages. Examples of such settlements include:

Karnataka

There are a number of places in Southern Karnataka named agrahara. These places might have, probably, originated as Brahmin villages.

Tamil Nadu

Kerala

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Kalpathy_Agrahara,_Palakkad,_India4.jpg" caption="Kalpathy Agrahara, Kerala"] ::

  • [[File:Kunnamkulam Angadi 07.jpg|thumb|Kunnamkulam Angady]]There is a famous Agraharam in Thiruvananthapuram, called Valiya Sala which is the lengthiest Agraharam in India.
  • Agraharams in Palakkad district are around 96. When the villages are counted in the municipal area, there are around 18 of them. The concept is similar with houses in row on both sides and a temple at one end. They may differ in shapes – some are in straight line, some are T-shaped and few have multiple temples within the village.
  • There are several other Agraharams in Trivandrum city including the ones in and around Padmanabhaswamy Temple, East Fort, Karamana and Ulloor.

Notes

References

  1. Cynthia Talbot. (2001). "Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra". Oxford University Press.
  2. (September 2025)
  3. (2021-03-05). "Sanskrit Education and Literature in Ancient and Medieval Tamil Nadu – DK Printworld (P) Ltd.".
  4. P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar. (1929). "History of the Tamils from the Earliest Times to 600 A. D.".
  5. K. Govindhanar. (1996). "பெரும்பாணாற்றுப்படை – விளக்கவுரை". எழிலகம்.
  6. Kamil Zvelebil. (1973). "The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India". BRILL.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

society-of-karnatakatamil-societybrahmin-communities