The Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai ātīṉam and the Temple at Avudaiyarkoil

This presentation examines the relationship between the ātīṉam and the temple in the Tamil region during the 16th and 17th centuries, with a focus on the Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai ātīṉam and the Ātmanāthasvāmi temple at Avudaiyarkoil. 

Emerging from roughly the 16th century onward, the ātīṉam is a monastery (maṭam) typically led by non-Brahman Vellala lineages and supporting distinctively Tamil forms of Śaivism. The Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai ātīṉam, located in the eponymous village next to the earlier Gomuktīśvara temple, is perhaps the most renowned. By the 18th/19th century it had come to symbolise the integration of Śaivism and Tamil literary culture, serving as a major center for poets such as Civañāṉa Muṉivar, Mīṉāṭcicuntaram Piḷḷai, and U. Vē. Cāminātaiyar. The Ātmanāthasvāmi temple in Avudaiyarkoil is identified as Tirupperunturai, where Maṇikkavācakar built a temple for Śiva with money entrusted to him by the Pāṇṭiya king for buying horses. This association was certainly important by the 17th century, as is evident from the temple's sculptural programme. The Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai ātīṉam currently owns the temple and is likely to have taken over its management in the early 17th century. They built a new shrine for the saint-poet in the early 19th century and continue to emphasise their connection to the temple to this day. 

​In this talk, I explore the activities and presence of members of the Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai at Avudaiyarkoil, drawing on epigraphic evidence inscribed on stone and copper, as well as on stone portraits. These sources reveal that these ascetics, often bearing the title of paṇṭāram, worked in the early modern period largely as temple administrators. They also show how, through their administrative roles, the paṇṭārams accumulated wealth, authority, and visibility—factors to be considered in relation to the educational and literary program later sponsored by the Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai ātīṉam.​