ARUNKUNRAM MEET

Dear Friends, J K SIVAN

                                   

 Meeting with  school children in Arungulam and Ayilam in Arcot 

SREE KRISHNARPANAM SEVA TRUST,  at the instance of  Sri A.K. Ramanan, a good friend and SKSS   supporter ,  hailing from the village of  Arunkunram and an adjoining village  Ayilam,  in Arcot,  organised a meeting with the children of Govt Elementary School and High school in the said village on 22nd January 2020.   In all about  125+  children  from both villages were present to participate in the programs conducted by SKST.  Arunkundram is situated between Arcot and Kannamangalam.   It is  surrounded by hillocks and paddy fields, and is about 8 km from Arcot in Vellore district. Agriculture is the backbone of the village. The village people are dependent on the North East Monsoon and the Palar river for irrigation. 

During the rule of Pallava dynasty (400 - 800 AD), Arungundram was a place of busy activities. Jain Monks and Nuns lived in the hillocks near Arungundram. Thiruppan Malai, in the outskirts of the village, had a dormitory of Jain Nuns. There are seven cave temples in the hills, belonging to Nandivarma Pallava period (740 AD). The hillock and the caves are now known as "Panchapandavar malai" in Tamil. There is also a cavern atop the hill with a spring. Sculpted figures of the famous monk Naganandhi and a Jain Yakshi are seen near the spring. An inscription near the figure says "Naranan has carved the figure of Pon Iyakki (Yakshi) for his guru Naganandhi during the reign of Nandivarma Pothatharasar ..."

Another inscription belonging to Chola period tells about the donation of a village Kooraganpadi, by a kind of Lada country, Veeracholan and his queen. Hearsay tells about a palace at the Malligai Medu village (Lalaimedu) to the west of Arungundram. It is also believed that there existed 108 Siva temples in and around Arungundram village and the hills. Even now one can see remnants of Siva temples and lingams scattered all around the paddy fields of Arungundram.

These temples are believed to have been damaged during the Carnatic War between Arcot Nawab Chanda Saheb and East India Company in the middle ot 18th century. The invasion of Hyder Ali is also believed to have caused major damage to the temples around Arcot including Arungundram.

A dilapidated temple of Siva, Sri Chandramouleeswarar Temple atop Hariharan Kundram, which over the period of time has become  ''Arungundram '' village, a temple of Sri Dharmeswarar at the heart of the village and a temple of Sri Venugopalaswamy still exist in spite of invasions and wars.

The Ponniamman temple with shrines for Saptha Matrikas is revered as the Guardian Angel of the village and a footprint of the Ponniamman on a rock is still worshipped by the villagers.

We  reached Arunkunram by  9 am. and proceeded to the elementary school.  In the morning there were about 60 children in the primary elementary school  at Arunkunram  village.  The children eagerly awaited us as they had been told about our visit to meet them  on 22nd January 2020 morning.

The children  were jubilant to participate in the ''Paint Your Krishna'' competition conducted by SKST.   We  supplied  outline sketches of Krishna with a cow,  for painting and were supplied crayons and color pencils.  They were told stories of Krishna and this opportunity was taken to advise them about their duties towards parents, teachers,  Faith  and society   respectively. 

The children were very happy to  receive  prizes in the form of sweets,  writing  equipment, pen pencil, eraser and sharpener set,  note books and  SKST  story  books for their   participation .  The school's acting Headmistress was honoured with a shawl and the teachers were presented with SKST Books.

In the  post lunch session, the children of higher secondary School at the adjoining Ayilam,  were met and a written quiz was conducted by SKST,  comprising 50 questions with suggested answers  for them to select the correct answer.  The children  were addressed to follow basic disciplines and obedience towards  parents and teachers and  various methods were suggested for their characater moulding.  They were told short stories for self development. 

All the participating children showed interest in our visit and advices and were very happy to be  presented with note books, writing equipment and books of SKST.  The Headmaster was thanked and honoured with a shawl for his cooperation  in arranging the meeting with children.Books were given as compliment to  teachers.

Dear Friends, if you can organise our visit to  any school management known to you , please do let us know and join us in meeting the children and presenting them the books and  educate them on our  legends, epics tradition custom, culture and  basic discipline