Places to see near Salem
Latitude: 11'14' and 12'53' N
Longitude: 77'44' and 78'50' E
The name Salem is derived from a Sanskrit Word 'Sailam', denoting an area surrounded by hills, and it was these hills which were responsible for Salem's industrial thrust into the 20th century. The district is rich in mineral wealth. Salem is very famous for its mangoes, stainless steel and handlooms. The Government Museum contains valuable collections of sculptures and terracottas. Visiting hours 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. (Friday holiday).
The largest city in the region, Salem is located around 30 kilometer from Yercaud. Located at the base of the Yercaud Hills, Salem is surrounded by hills that offer breathtaking views of the entire region. Apart from the Yercaud and Shevaroy Hills, tourists can also view the Jeragamalai, Kanjanamalai and Godumalai Hills. Salem city also has a fort that is believed to be the oldest construction in the town.
Salem has several competing meaning and Origins. The chief among them are the following five terms Cheram, Sailam, Salya, Seylai and Seelam. The word cheram (or keralam or seram) indicates that this was the land of the cherams. Salem is a weaving centre. Most of the weaving in Salem is still concentrated in producing Saeylai (the Tamil word for sari) the one/piece garment worn by women therefore, Salem is supposed to mean the place where Saeylais are produced.
The city contains two major temples dedicated to Sukavana Isvarar and Soundhararaja Perumal, both on the right bank of the river. A number of Mari Amman and Kali Amman temples are found in almost all parts of the city.
Arts and literature flourished and patronized by the rulers of the hills and plains. Avvaiyar and other Sangam poets of Salem were renowned and well respected.
Ornamental plants at Green House. OrchardcumNursery of rose plants. Silk Farm, Horticulture Research Station, Orchidoriums, Lake park, Salem view (between 16th and 17th bends) are other places of interest.
Yercaud and the entire Servarayan Hills are known for thriving coffee plantations. Plantains, Pears, Jack and orange fruits are also grown. Flowers of all Varieties flourish here.
Mariamman Temple
Murugan Temple
Muniappan
Iron and Steel
Jama Masjid
Tharamangalam
Vedanthangal
Kailasanathar Kovil
Mari Amman rules over discuses that bring death, especially small pox. At times of smallpox incidence, the leaves of the neem tree (netta azadirachia) sacred to the goddess, are spread on the bed of the afflicted person and a bunch of them tied in the entrance of the patients house indicating the presence of the goddess. In the benevolent aspect, the goddess brings rainy to put an end to the diseases which result from the heat.
She is believed to cure a variety of illness of those who offer silver sheet metal models of their affected organs. This type of prayer is commonly found in almost all Mari Amman temples in Salem.
Almost every village has a temple or shrine dedicated to her which is the focus of village festivals. Major temples are relatively large and may or may not be surrounded by compound walls. Annual festivals in early or late summer usually last for several days. The festival begins with the planting of a stump of a neem tree, 6 tall and with three prongs at the top; A new mud pot containing sanctified water is placed among the prongs, Devotees offer her Pongal ( ritual cooking) sacrificed goats and roosters in the temple yard.
Some devotees walk bare feet on burning coals and pierce their bodies with pins and knives. Walking on burning coals is an ancient custom practiced in honour of mother goddess. These self inflicted in honour of mother goddess. These self inflicted painful fistulas were prohibited during the British rule as they were thought to be injurious to health of the devotees. On the last day of the festival, a procession of floats is held, each float depicting a legendary scene. Fireworks conclude the festivities.
This Dravidian goddess is one of the widely revered goddess of the ancient world. Under many variants of her name, She was Marrattu ( Mari Attha) to the Chaldeans, March to the Jews, Mary to the Christians. She was also the goddess of the eye of truth and judgment. Compare "ayin" which was the "eye" in the Hebrew sacred alphabet. Possibly derived from aya. The babylonian creatress. Aya in Tamil means mother and Mari Amman is popularly known as Mari Aya. In Syria she was known as the goddess Mari whose huge eyes searched men"s souls. As death giver she was Mariamman, Miriam, and Mara an exceedingly ancient name of the goddess as deathbringer. The name and its variants are found from India to Northern Europe.
A Dravidian god of youth and beauty. The Dravidian cult of the young is as old as the cult of mother and ancestors. It was absorbed into the brahminical Hinduism and Murugan was sanckritized as Skanda, which name was again Tamilized into Kandha. These names are alternatives for the brahminical Karthikeya the Hindu god of war. In the Tamil tradition, Murugan is adored as a Tamil and Vedhic scholar. The name Skandha may preserve the memory of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian youth and world conqueror, who blazed like a flash of lightning on the Indian horizon and left lasting impression on the Indian mind.
Murugan is known by several descriptive names Balamurugan, Kumaran, Mayil veganan, Subramanian, Velvan, and Balamurugan Iconographically, he holds a lance or spear (vel) and rides a peacock; his flag, a living Malai, Thiruchengode and Vaiyappa Malai, are Murugan's favourite aunts. The most famous Murugan temple of Tamil Nadu is in Pazhani. Dindigul District. According to the Salem legends, a new image of Murugan in Pazhani was installed by a siddhar when Murugan came to and remained in Vaiyappa Malai accepting the gift of gold created by the Alavoy Malai siddhars. The notable Murugan temples in Salem are at Ammapettai, Belukurichi, Kanakagiri, Kapilamalai, Thiruchengode, Kandhasramam, Kanjamalai, Kalipatti and Vaiyappa Malai. Most of the Siva temples contain Murugan shrines.
Blood sacrifices at these shrines are very common. The huge and terrifying images are accompanied by larger than life figures of attendants and animals. Smaller terra cotta horses and iron spears, offered by devotees in fulfillment of their vows, usually crowd the front yard of these shrines. In the centre of the shrine, there is usually a grouping of triangular shaped an iconic stones or Neolithic stone implements, or some other form of a pandukal monument such as a dolmen. The new cult of Aiyappan is the Sanskritized brahminical Hindu version of the Aiyanar cult. Because of the dominant presence of Muniappan shrines everywhere, the Salem district is known as the Land of Muniappan.
Though Salem is the origin for worshiping various gods and godless, a great movement which disapprove gods was started by E.V.R.Ramaswamy Nayakar who belongs to Salem Region. This movement was made great changes in the minds of the people who believed superstition since ancient times.
Silver ornamental jewllery are the famous business in this region. Wood carving and designing windows and doors are the attractive business in this region.
An historically and commercially important town 30 km. from Salem. It is renowned for the beautiful Kailasanathar temple. Legendarily, the goddess Sivakami was given away to Siva in a thaarai ritual. Another source for the name is the belief that there was a forest of tharuka trees in the area.
This west facing temple is enclosed by a massive stone wall measuring 306' by 164' reportedly built in the thirteenth century. The main entrance tower (5 storeys 90'high) is conceived as a chariot on wheels, drawn by elephants and horses. The huge entrance doors, made of vengai (pterocarpus marsupium) wood, are studied with untrusting iron knobs each of a different pattern. Their panels are decorated with wooden carvings depicting incarnations of Vishnu.
The entrance to the inner sanctum is through a portico supported by six sumptuously carved stone pillars. The scenes of tiger hunting by princes seated on horses and accompanied by footmen are depicted very realistically and with great sensitivity. A pillar of yazhi (a mythical animal combining features of the lion and the elephant) is so ingeniously carved that a stone ball (4' diameter) in its mouth can be freely rolled but cannot be rolled out. The wooden doors of the portico are adorned with twenty four panels of excellent carving, some of which have been vandalized. The motifs for these carvings are drawn from the divine exploits of Siva and scenes from the daily lives of ordinary people.
The great hall is a fine gallery of sculptures of men, women, and Gods among which the sculpture of the voluptuous rishi pathini (sage's wife) is notable .
The ceiling is supported by rows of stone pillars from whose capitals hang elegant chains carved out of solid stone. The ceiling in front of the main shrine is covered by a block of stone seven feet in diameter carved in the shape of an inverted open lotus with parrots. This carving is surrounded by the Gatti Mudali insignia. The outer walls of the inner most sanctum are covered with inscriptions. Twice a year, during August to September and February to March for three days in succession, the rays of the evening, sum shine through the entrance tower, the portico, and enters the sanctum sanatorium and falls on the deity, an anionic stone. The consort of Kailasanathar is Sivakami.
Several gigantic monolithic pillars of pink granite carved, polished, and ready for erection in the proposed Thousand Pillar Hall lie outside the temple. More are said to be under the ground. Before this project could be completed, Vanangamudi was killed in 1667, leaving the foreground of the temple littered with ruins of a noble dream.
A temple tank (about (180' x 180') is one of the finest of its kind in South India. Thirty Six Nandhi Sculptures (2' high) of black stone sit at intervals on top of the parapet wall whose inside holds 365 lamp niches. One for every day of the year. Only once in 1873 the pool was cleaned by the Salem Local Fund Board.
Longitude: 77'44' and 78'50' E
The name Salem is derived from a Sanskrit Word 'Sailam', denoting an area surrounded by hills, and it was these hills which were responsible for Salem's industrial thrust into the 20th century. The district is rich in mineral wealth. Salem is very famous for its mangoes, stainless steel and handlooms. The Government Museum contains valuable collections of sculptures and terracottas. Visiting hours 9.00 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. and 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. (Friday holiday).
Salem (30 Km)
This is the largest city in the region and has some old temples but is basically known for its industries, mainly steel, sago and hand weaving.The largest city in the region, Salem is located around 30 kilometer from Yercaud. Located at the base of the Yercaud Hills, Salem is surrounded by hills that offer breathtaking views of the entire region. Apart from the Yercaud and Shevaroy Hills, tourists can also view the Jeragamalai, Kanjanamalai and Godumalai Hills. Salem city also has a fort that is believed to be the oldest construction in the town.
Salem has several competing meaning and Origins. The chief among them are the following five terms Cheram, Sailam, Salya, Seylai and Seelam. The word cheram (or keralam or seram) indicates that this was the land of the cherams. Salem is a weaving centre. Most of the weaving in Salem is still concentrated in producing Saeylai (the Tamil word for sari) the one/piece garment worn by women therefore, Salem is supposed to mean the place where Saeylais are produced.
The city contains two major temples dedicated to Sukavana Isvarar and Soundhararaja Perumal, both on the right bank of the river. A number of Mari Amman and Kali Amman temples are found in almost all parts of the city.
Arts and literature flourished and patronized by the rulers of the hills and plains. Avvaiyar and other Sangam poets of Salem were renowned and well respected.
Ornamental plants at Green House. OrchardcumNursery of rose plants. Silk Farm, Horticulture Research Station, Orchidoriums, Lake park, Salem view (between 16th and 17th bends) are other places of interest.
Yercaud and the entire Servarayan Hills are known for thriving coffee plantations. Plantains, Pears, Jack and orange fruits are also grown. Flowers of all Varieties flourish here.
Mariamman Temple
Murugan Temple
Muniappan
Iron and Steel
Jama Masjid
Tharamangalam
Vedanthangal
Kailasanathar Kovil
Mariamman Temple
A mother goddess. The Tamil word Mari means death but when the letter a in it is accented, the word changes to mean rain. She is the most ancient and popular deity among the village deities of Salem and is worshipped under several other names such as Amman, Atthu, Ayam Ayee (Mother), Dharmapuri (Mari with army), Magamayee ( Great Mother) and Vadivattha (Beautiful Mother) all indicating an ancient form of ancestral mother worship Iconographically, Mari represented in a sitting posture with four bands. They hold a drum, a trident a bundle if ropes and a skull.Mari Amman rules over discuses that bring death, especially small pox. At times of smallpox incidence, the leaves of the neem tree (netta azadirachia) sacred to the goddess, are spread on the bed of the afflicted person and a bunch of them tied in the entrance of the patients house indicating the presence of the goddess. In the benevolent aspect, the goddess brings rainy to put an end to the diseases which result from the heat.
She is believed to cure a variety of illness of those who offer silver sheet metal models of their affected organs. This type of prayer is commonly found in almost all Mari Amman temples in Salem.
Almost every village has a temple or shrine dedicated to her which is the focus of village festivals. Major temples are relatively large and may or may not be surrounded by compound walls. Annual festivals in early or late summer usually last for several days. The festival begins with the planting of a stump of a neem tree, 6 tall and with three prongs at the top; A new mud pot containing sanctified water is placed among the prongs, Devotees offer her Pongal ( ritual cooking) sacrificed goats and roosters in the temple yard.
Some devotees walk bare feet on burning coals and pierce their bodies with pins and knives. Walking on burning coals is an ancient custom practiced in honour of mother goddess. These self inflicted in honour of mother goddess. These self inflicted painful fistulas were prohibited during the British rule as they were thought to be injurious to health of the devotees. On the last day of the festival, a procession of floats is held, each float depicting a legendary scene. Fireworks conclude the festivities.
This Dravidian goddess is one of the widely revered goddess of the ancient world. Under many variants of her name, She was Marrattu ( Mari Attha) to the Chaldeans, March to the Jews, Mary to the Christians. She was also the goddess of the eye of truth and judgment. Compare "ayin" which was the "eye" in the Hebrew sacred alphabet. Possibly derived from aya. The babylonian creatress. Aya in Tamil means mother and Mari Amman is popularly known as Mari Aya. In Syria she was known as the goddess Mari whose huge eyes searched men"s souls. As death giver she was Mariamman, Miriam, and Mara an exceedingly ancient name of the goddess as deathbringer. The name and its variants are found from India to Northern Europe.
Murugan Temple
The view is better than the temple it displays another facet of the town and the mushrooming houses of the estate working people on the opposite hills and valley below. You also get to see the lake differently.A Dravidian god of youth and beauty. The Dravidian cult of the young is as old as the cult of mother and ancestors. It was absorbed into the brahminical Hinduism and Murugan was sanckritized as Skanda, which name was again Tamilized into Kandha. These names are alternatives for the brahminical Karthikeya the Hindu god of war. In the Tamil tradition, Murugan is adored as a Tamil and Vedhic scholar. The name Skandha may preserve the memory of Alexander the Great, the Macedonian youth and world conqueror, who blazed like a flash of lightning on the Indian horizon and left lasting impression on the Indian mind.
Murugan is known by several descriptive names Balamurugan, Kumaran, Mayil veganan, Subramanian, Velvan, and Balamurugan Iconographically, he holds a lance or spear (vel) and rides a peacock; his flag, a living Malai, Thiruchengode and Vaiyappa Malai, are Murugan's favourite aunts. The most famous Murugan temple of Tamil Nadu is in Pazhani. Dindigul District. According to the Salem legends, a new image of Murugan in Pazhani was installed by a siddhar when Murugan came to and remained in Vaiyappa Malai accepting the gift of gold created by the Alavoy Malai siddhars. The notable Murugan temples in Salem are at Ammapettai, Belukurichi, Kanakagiri, Kapilamalai, Thiruchengode, Kandhasramam, Kanjamalai, Kalipatti and Vaiyappa Malai. Most of the Siva temples contain Murugan shrines.
Muniappan
Muniappan ( Forefather). It is an ancient and very popular village deity of Salem. He is also known as "Aiyanar" (Revered Father). The word Muni is generally taken to mean an anchorite, or one who has taken a vow of mauna. (silence) It is frequently used for a sage who has supernatural powers which he displays in his blessings and curses. This interpretation is inappropriate when the phrase is seen in the combination of Muniappan. The word Muni stands for munnai (fore) and appan (father) Therefore it is believed the words Muniappan and Aiyanar refer to an ancient Dravidian cult of ancestor worship.Blood sacrifices at these shrines are very common. The huge and terrifying images are accompanied by larger than life figures of attendants and animals. Smaller terra cotta horses and iron spears, offered by devotees in fulfillment of their vows, usually crowd the front yard of these shrines. In the centre of the shrine, there is usually a grouping of triangular shaped an iconic stones or Neolithic stone implements, or some other form of a pandukal monument such as a dolmen. The new cult of Aiyappan is the Sanskritized brahminical Hindu version of the Aiyanar cult. Because of the dominant presence of Muniappan shrines everywhere, the Salem district is known as the Land of Muniappan.
Though Salem is the origin for worshiping various gods and godless, a great movement which disapprove gods was started by E.V.R.Ramaswamy Nayakar who belongs to Salem Region. This movement was made great changes in the minds of the people who believed superstition since ancient times.
Iron and Steel
Iron ore is abundant in Salem. Salem has been the chief centre of supply of the finest steel throughout historical times and iron was a historical mark of Salem's contact with the western world in ancient times. J.M.Health the prized that the tools used by the Egyptian sculptors may have been made of Salem Steel.Iron Ore
Magnetic oxide of iron deposits occur in the mountains of Godumalai, Kalrayan, Kanjamalai, Kolli Malai, and Thalamalai. The total reserves of Kanjamalai and Kolli Malai are estimated at between 235 and 245 million tonnes.
 Photo by : trawnikoff in Webshots |
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Jama Masjid
The oldest mosque in Salem, situated on the southern bank of the Thirumanimuthu Aru in the heart of the city. It was reportedly built by the Mysore ruler, Tippu Sulthan, who is said to have offered prayers here. The Masjid Inam granted to this mosque was confirmed by the British in 1862. By a special resolution in 1880.Tharamangalam
The town is famous Sri Kailasanathar Temple. Figures of tortoise, fish, monkey, crocodile are carved out on the walls and granite roofs. The gopuram is bedecked with stucco figures. Statues of Rathi Manmathan, Vali Sugriva of the epic Ramayana and Yali with rotating stone ball in its mouth, the rotating lotus flowers in the ceiling are some of the beautiful features, which adorn the temple.An historically and commercially important town 30 km. from Salem. It is renowned for the beautiful Kailasanathar temple. Legendarily, the goddess Sivakami was given away to Siva in a thaarai ritual. Another source for the name is the belief that there was a forest of tharuka trees in the area.
Vedanthangal (85 km)
Vedanthangal is one of the largest bird sanctuaries in India. It is a marshy, 30 hectare park with lake visited by over 1,00,000 migratory birds every year. The majority of these birds can be seen between November and February. The variety of birds include Herons, Darters, Spoonbills, Pelicans, Sandpipers, White Ibis, Cormorants, Blue winged teals and Swans.Kailasanathar Kovil
A Siva temple, perhaps the most beautiful of its kind in Salem District. Parts of it existed as early as the tenth century as it stands now, it is the product of the Gatti Mudali dynasty of the seventeenth century. Reconstruction and elaboration of the old temple was begun by Mummudi, continued by Siyazhi, and was brought near completion by Vanangamudi.This west facing temple is enclosed by a massive stone wall measuring 306' by 164' reportedly built in the thirteenth century. The main entrance tower (5 storeys 90'high) is conceived as a chariot on wheels, drawn by elephants and horses. The huge entrance doors, made of vengai (pterocarpus marsupium) wood, are studied with untrusting iron knobs each of a different pattern. Their panels are decorated with wooden carvings depicting incarnations of Vishnu.
The entrance to the inner sanctum is through a portico supported by six sumptuously carved stone pillars. The scenes of tiger hunting by princes seated on horses and accompanied by footmen are depicted very realistically and with great sensitivity. A pillar of yazhi (a mythical animal combining features of the lion and the elephant) is so ingeniously carved that a stone ball (4' diameter) in its mouth can be freely rolled but cannot be rolled out. The wooden doors of the portico are adorned with twenty four panels of excellent carving, some of which have been vandalized. The motifs for these carvings are drawn from the divine exploits of Siva and scenes from the daily lives of ordinary people.
The great hall is a fine gallery of sculptures of men, women, and Gods among which the sculpture of the voluptuous rishi pathini (sage's wife) is notable .
The ceiling is supported by rows of stone pillars from whose capitals hang elegant chains carved out of solid stone. The ceiling in front of the main shrine is covered by a block of stone seven feet in diameter carved in the shape of an inverted open lotus with parrots. This carving is surrounded by the Gatti Mudali insignia. The outer walls of the inner most sanctum are covered with inscriptions. Twice a year, during August to September and February to March for three days in succession, the rays of the evening, sum shine through the entrance tower, the portico, and enters the sanctum sanatorium and falls on the deity, an anionic stone. The consort of Kailasanathar is Sivakami.
Several gigantic monolithic pillars of pink granite carved, polished, and ready for erection in the proposed Thousand Pillar Hall lie outside the temple. More are said to be under the ground. Before this project could be completed, Vanangamudi was killed in 1667, leaving the foreground of the temple littered with ruins of a noble dream.
A temple tank (about (180' x 180') is one of the finest of its kind in South India. Thirty Six Nandhi Sculptures (2' high) of black stone sit at intervals on top of the parapet wall whose inside holds 365 lamp niches. One for every day of the year. Only once in 1873 the pool was cleaned by the Salem Local Fund Board.