WORLD KING MUTHURAJA(MUDIRAJ) GROUPS JAI MUDIRAJ

	About Us What does Mudiraj mean? The meaning has its own historical background which can be traced to more than 2000 years ago.Muthu means “Pearl" and Raja means "King", so Mudhiraj means king of pearls; they used to collect pearls from sea. The people who have their descent to these great kings of medieval times continue to be known as the Mudiraj Mudiraj - Meaning MUDIRAJU people are popularly known as MUDIRAJ in Andhra Pradesh. They are also known as Mutharacha and Mutharasu in parts of Andhra Pradesh. They are known as Muthuraja in Tamilnadu and Mudduraja in Karnataka.Origin and History of Mudiraj communityThe origin of our community reminds us about the great epics and civilizations of the Indian origin. Here are few insights about the origin of our community. Mudiraj people are believed to be the descendants of Kalabhra kings of South India who invaded South of South Indian Peninsula and uprooted the kingdoms ruled by Adhirajas of Chola, Chera and Pandya dynasties. The Kalabhra kings who played a great havoc in South Indian peninsula by snatching away the kingdoms of the then ADHIRAJAS (GREAT KINGS) declared them as the real GREAT KINGS (MUDIRAJAS). The kalabhras who were anti Brahmins and anti Sanskrit, preferred to use a pure Dravidian title "MUDIRAJA" in place of Sanskrit word "ADHIRAJA" giving them the same meaning - GREAT KINGS. Mudhiraja = Adhiraja = Maharaja = Great King. The Muthuraja of Tamilnadu, the Mudiraja of Karnataka and Mudiraj of Andhra Pradesh are one and the same people having the same Indian Tribal blood and professional background. Muthurajas and Cholas had the same warrior and professional background and they belonged to fishing & hunting communities. They were well integrated into a ruling class community in Tamilnadu by having matrimonial alliances among them. Muthurajas also had their matrimonial alliances with Pandyas, who also known as Maharayas. Karikala Chola was one of the great kings of Chola dynasty who belonged to Valavan fishing community. The valavans are a sub caste of Muthuraja in Tamilnadu Today. It is practically difficult to differentiate Cholas from Muthurajas on any ground and it is widely believed by Muthurajas that both these warrior groups had the same origins. The matter of identifying and establishing common roots of Muthurajas and Cholas to the Vanara king of Sugreeva is a subject of research by Chola-Mutharayar Research Center, Thanjavoore. MUDIRAJA, MUTHURAJA and MUTHARACHA are three different names, which are commonly used to refer these people who belong to one of the kshatriya communities of South Indian peninsula. A detailed study of the origins of this community reveals that there are two primary lines of descendancy to the people of this community and each line projects a different meaning. Finally, both the lines declare only one single fact that the ancestors of these people were warriors and born village administrators. Mudiraja Muthuraja Mutharacha In the feudal Hindu society, the Kshatriyas used to occupy the 2nd top slot in the hierarchy of four caste groups. As per the definition of MANU, who was believed to be the architect of caste codification of the Hindu society, it was divided into four major caste groups i.e. (i) Brahmana, (ii) Kshatriya, (iii) Vaishya and (iv) Shudra. MUDIRAJA:  Some people say that Mudiraj means ancient king or old king. While this may be true to some extent, there is a historical reason for calling these people as Mudiraj / Muthuraj. It is now the turn to know the meaning from the angle of MUDIRAJA line of descendancy. It will take us to pre-historic and ancient times of Sahasrarjuna and Parasurama (> 1300 B.C). The war that exploded much before Mahabharat and Ramayana times within the two classes of Aryan race after their entry into India upto the point of Mahishmati in M.P, lead to the creation of four blocks of caste ( chatur varna ) system in the Indian society and also to the creation of hybrid Indo-Aryan kings. Before the breakdown of Aryan community into two rival groups, there was no caste system neither with the Aryans nor with the Indian Tribals. The Mudirajas were from the same Indo-Aryan kings of kalabhra or kalchuri origin, who brought Jainism and Buddism to South India to counter and nullify the influence of brahmins and the caste system professed by them. The people of this community, who mostly call themselves as MUDIRAJA seems to belong to North Indian line of descendancy , which has its roots to Aryan / Indo-Aryan lineage. The Indo-Aryan lineage becomes quite clearly visible through their accepted descent from kalabhras, who were in turn a stock of kalchuris of M.P in North India. The kalchuris, who were also known as haihayas or chedis in Mahabharata, were the descendants of the great king Sahasrarjuna, who ruled his kingdom from Mahishmati in M.P. Sahasrarjuna, who was the son of Kartavirya ows his descendancy to Yadu and then to Yayati. It was during the time of Sahasrarjuna that a great war broke out between Aryan Kshatriyas and Aryan Brahmins. The Aryan Brahmins, who massacred Aryan Kshatriyas for 21 times under the leadership of Parasurama created a greater havoc than Mahabharata war and sowed seeds for creating a new race of great kings of Indo-Aryan descent along with prophet based new religions such as Jainism and Buddhism. The word MUDIRAJ is having a very specific meaning with reference to a very specific group of warrior kings of kalabhra descendancy in the South Indian Peninsula. The kalabhras are believed to be the descendants of kalachuri lineage. It was a proud Royal title assumed by the Indo-Aryan warrior kings, who while moving towards down South of South Indian peninsula convulsed, defeated, and uprooted the Adhirajas (great kings) of Chola, Chera and Pandya dynasties, who were ruling the present day Tamilnadu and Kerala regions. The word MUDIRAJA is a combination of two separate words i.e. MUDI and RAJA. It is well known to the entire world that RAJA or RAJU means a KING. The word RAJA clearly indicates that the people of this caste basically belong to Kshatriya block in the society. The people of Kshatriya, who belonged to ruling class in the feudal society had a wide and general acceptance of the public as rulers due to their inborn natural quality to fight enemies and administer the society. Mudi + Raju => Mudiraju Mudi + Raja => Mudiraja The meaning of MUDIRAJU: Every one knows that RAJU means KING, but very few might have really bothered to know the true meaning of MUDI. The word MUDI is one of the common and root words in most of the Dravidian languages of South India i.e. Tulu, Telugu, and Kannada. The word MUDI means ADHI or MAHA in Sanskrit language and GREAT in English language. MUDI = ADHI   (Sanskrit Language) MUDI = MAHA  (Sanskrit Language) MUDI = GREAT (English Language) MUDI = ADHI = MAHA = GREAT RAJA = RACHA = RAJU = KING MUDI RAJAS = ADHI RAJAS = MAHA RAJAS = GREAT KINGS The Mudirajas and their variants who ruled South India in the name of Vijayanagar empire came to be known as Maha Rayars ( Maharayars and Mutharayars ) The Analysis of word MUDIRAJU : The meaning of the word MUDI can be understood quite clearly and easily by analyzing the following few Telugu words, which are widely being used by most of the common people in day-to-day life. Manumadu => Grandson Thaatha => Grandfather Manumadu (Telugu) => Grandson (English) Mudi Manumadu (Telugu) => Great Grandson (English) Mudi Manumadu => Mudi + Manumadu => Great + Grandson =>Great Grandson Thaatha (Telugu) => Grandfather (English) Mutthaatha (Telugu) => Great Grandfather (English) Mutthaatha => Mudi + Thaatha => Great + Grandfather => Great Grandfather So, it becomes very clear from the above analysis that the word MUDI means GREAT. MUDI = ADHI = MAHA = GREAT MUDIRAJA = ADHIRAJA = GREAT KING Mythological / pauranic interpretation for the meaning of mudiraja : There is also a legend in circulation among mudiraj community people which provides a mythological / pauranic interpretation for the meaning of Mudiraja. Readers may kindly refere to web page "Ankamma" in this website and see for chapter "RAVADEVIRAJU AND HIS DESCENDANCY FROM YAYATHI" MUTHURAJA:  The name Muthuraja is derived from the word mudi, meaning top most and raja, ruler. In Tamil, the people of MUDIRAJA are known as MUTHURAJA. In Tamilnadu, they are also known as Mutharaiyars, Mttiriyars and Mudaliyars. MUTHU is having a different meaning in Tamil language and it means PEARAL. These kings, who were the descendants of kalabhras created a havoc in the South Indian peninsula by driving away the kings of Chola, Chera and Pandya dynasties. They also relieved the defeated kings of Chola, Chera and Pandya dynasties from their royal title of Adhiraja (great king) and declared themselves as the real GREAT KINGS ( MUDIRAJA ). The word MUTHU came into use in place of MUDI by the great kings of Mudiraj origin. The use of word MUTHU in place of MUDI might have also come as a result of poetic expressions by the poets of royal court in course of time. The poets might have praised these warrior kings of kalabhra origin as great kings like PEARALS (MUTHU) among known precious stones. MUTHU => PEARL RAJA => KING MUTHURAJA => PEARL like KING => KING as great as PEARL The MUDIRAJAs , who defeated, uprooted and conquered the then great kings of outh Indian Peninisula not only grabbed their kingdoms but also grabbed their royal title ADHIRAJA and replaced it by MUDIRAJA for themselves. MUDIRAJA also has the same meaning as that of ADHIRAJA and they both mean GREAT KINGS. MUDIRAJA => MUTHURAJA< = GREAT KINGS BR> The word MUDIRAJA was a pure dravidian word and used in most dravidian languages even today. The word MUDIRAJA has the same meaning of ADHIRAJA. The MUDIRAJAS, who were believed to be the descendants of KALABHRAS were initially jains and then became buddhists when they became subordinate kings to Ashoka of Kalinga. They were well known for their anti-Brahminism tirade in South India and strong patronage to jainism and buddhism. The anti-Brahmin attitude of these Kalabhra kings might have prompted them to use the pure dravidian word MUDIRAJA instead of ADHIRAJA to designate themselves as the true and real GREAT KINGS of the South India in those days. In due course of time MUDIRAJA became the caste name for these GREAT KINGS and their descendants. ADHIRAJA    (Sanskrit) =>GREAT KING (English) MUDIRAJA    (Telugu  ) =>GREAT KING (English) MUTHURAJA (Tamil    ) =>GREAT KING (English) Mutharaya / Muthuraya / Maharaya: A careful study of inscriptions, endowments recorded by the epigraphists during the times of Vijayanagar empire, give us certain clues that these kings were most probably related to Mudirajas / Muthurajas of present day South India. It has been observed that there are many endowments and insciptions where many kings of Saluva, Tuluva and Araveedu dynasty who ruled Vijayanagar empire were referred as Maharayas. Maha => Muthu => Mudi Maharaya => Muthuraya => Muthuraja => Mudiraja Mutharayar => Muthurayar => Maharayar The kings of Vijayanagar who came under the influence of Brahminic culture with the decline of Buddhism in South India, were most probably referred by Brahman epigraphists as Maharayas to indicate the belongingness of these kings to the community of Muthurayas or Mutharayas. The words Mutharaya or Muthrayars were preferred and specifically selected words for use by most Buddhist empigraphists of South India who were anti-brahmin in their attitude and also wrote most of their religious texts in pure Tamil language. There was no difference in the community of kings who belonged to Muthuraya and Maharaya except that the Muthuraya kings were Buddhists by religion and the later Maharaya Kings accepted Brahminic Vaishnava path. This once again proves that most of the kings who ruled Vijayanagar empire, the chieftains and other important tax collecting officials (Settis) were from Maharaya (Muthuraya) community. The following are several references made by different writers, endowments and inscriptions to Vijayanagar kings where they were referred as Maharayas meaning Mutharayas or Mudirajas. “Krishnadeva Maharaya had an young Son Tirumaladeva Maharaya. According to his wish, his brother Achyutaraya Maharaya became king of Vijayanagar Empire after him.” “The Emperor Achyutaraya Maharaya made an endowment IV. 54 dated 26th December 1535 for the annual celebration in Tirumala of a new festival commemmorating the marriage of Sri Venkatesvara with Alarmel Mangai Nachchiyar, also called Lakshmidevi Mahotsavam.” “Earlier to Sri Krishnadeva Maharaya (16th century) there is only one Telugu inscription of Saluva Mangideva Maharaya dated saka 1281 (No.237 T.T.) and two Kannada inscriptions, one of Vira Pratapa-Devaraya Maharaya dated saka 351 (No. 188 T.T.) and one of Saluva Narasimha dated saka 1389 (No.8 G.T.)” There is an inscription dated 1628 in this Ranganatha Temple in Telugu. The English translation of this is "Be it well, When Rajadhi-Raja-Parameshwara Vira Pratapa Vira-Maha-Deva Maharaya seated in the Jewel throne was ruling the empire of the world”. “Sadasiva deva Maharaya was recognised by every one as the real sovereign is shown by a large number of inscriptions, ranging from 1542 to 1568” Copper plates give details of Maharayars of Vijayanagara kingdom : Three ancient copper plates with etchings on the Vijayanagara kingdom have been collected from a Tirunelveli brass vessel shop. The plates, each weighing 2.636 kg, 21 cm in length and 18 cm in width, have been handed over by a numismatic inspector of Tiruchengodu, Namakkal district, to the Kongu Research Centre founder Pulavar S. Rasu. Mr. Rasu said the etchings were written on August 29, 1544 (Tamil year, Salivahana 1466, Aavani), when the legal heir of Sri Krishnadevarayar ruled the Vijayanagara kingdom. The plates had details of the role of the Vijayanagara king, Achutha Deva Maharayar (brother of Krishnadevarayar). His chief secretary, Mallappa Naicker, was in charge of Jayasinganadu (present Tirunelveli area). Land to villagers Mallappa Naicker, on the orders of the king, granted sites to 87 Brahmins at Munnerpallam village and 35,165 acres of land to villagers. Income from the land was divided into four portions and granted to 87 Brahmins, an Eswaran (Shiva) temple and for propagating puranas and teaching the Vedas. The etchings say all Brahmins are Vaishnavites, but they visit the Eswaran temple. The plates had details of several villages in the Tirunelveli area and of Tamil kings who ruled southern TamilNadu.  MUTHARACHA:  The people of MUTHARACHA line of descendancy had their origins rooted with aboriginal Black Tribal Indians of central and South India. The thick central & South Indian forests, which were known as dandakaranya since the times of valmiky ramayana were the home land of several aboriginal Indian Tribes such as gonds, koyas and bhils. The people of these tribes, who had their genetic connection to Dravidian race ( Astro-African stock ), were greatly evolved in their socio-cultural practices and oriented their living based on principles of preservance of ecological and environmental balances. These aboriginal Indian tribals were mostly the Gonds, Koyas and Bhils who moved freely in the thick Indian forests and mostly known as VANARAs during the times of Valmiky Ramayana. Valmiky himself was a Bhil Raja and a dacoit turned Saint. The vanaras were well known in India and around the world due to their association with Maha veer Hanuman, who reached Srilanka with the aim of rescuing Sita, the wife of Srirama from the clutches of demon Ravana. Hanuman was the General / Army Chief of Vanara King Sugreeva of Kishkinda Kingdom. It was concluded by historians that Hanuman was a superman of Dravidian warrior race, who worshipped the good virtues of Srirama. Bhakt Sabari and Hanuman of Ramayana times, and Ekalavya of Mahabharat times were all from the bhil community of dravidian origin. The koyas, bhils and Gonds most probably belonged to telugu-tamil-kannada speaking areas of South India. The mother tongue of Vanaras was a dravidian language having a mixture of Telugu, Tulu and may also be Kannada. The aborginal people of Bhils, Gonds, and Koyas were one of the advanced civilizations in the Indian subcontinent before the arrival of Aryans from across Himalayas. Each village was a socio-political and admninistrative unit in Koya ( koliyan ) civilization and a group of villages was called MUTHA. Each MUTHA was ruled by kinship and their descendants in most organized and peacefull manner by transferring the ruling power to their next kin in the family hirarchy without giving any scope for struggle, death, destruction and wastage of valuable resources, which can other wise be used for common upliftment of the MUTHA. The people of kinship who used to rule MUTHA gradually evolved into warriors of ruling class known as MUTHARACHA. MUTHA => An administrative unit consisting of a cluster or group of Villages. RACHA => RAJA => RAYA => KING RACHA => One who rules or administers a MUTHA MUTHA + RACHA => MUTHARACHA => A class of People, who rules a MUTHA by kinship. The Mutharachas seems to be the descendants of the same aboriginal Indian Tribal people who came close to Aryan Kshatriyas after the great war between Sahasrarjuna and Parasurama. These people who became one with the Aryan Kshatriya kings to increase the strength of kshatriya races against brahmins developed matrimonial alliances and gave birth to a new race of hybrid Indo-Aryan kings, who proved to be more deadlier than the Aryan warrior kings. There is also one more distant possibilty for the origin of the name MUTHARACHA to be derived directly from word MUDIRAJA. The modification of the word MUTHARACHA from the word MUDIRAJA may be more of a grammatical in nature than any meaning. This can be explained from the combination of the follwing words : (1) Mudi + Thaatha => Mutthaatha = Great grandson (2) Mudi + Racha => Muttharacha > Mutharacha = Great kings Racha is a perfect Telugu word, which is some times used in place of Raja by both literate and illiterate people. Racha means Raja and it is very commonly used in villages by illiterate village people. Racha <=> Raja Bhils, Gonds and Koyas are one and the same aboriginal people of Indian subcontinent and from whom warrior people of ruling class such as Koyarajas, Gondrajas, Kalchuris, and Mudirajas came into existence due to continuously changing socio-politicals events on the advent of Aryan influx into the Indian subcontinent. Mutracha :  Muttaracha had a variety of modified names such as Muttirajulu, Muttarasan, and Mutratcha. The people of this caste is known by any one of these names in the Telugu speaking lands, and in the Tamil speaking country it is known as Muttirayan and also as Palaiyakkaran. The Muttarachas are a Telugu Caste ane they are most numerous in Krishna, Nellore, Kuddapah( Kadapa) districts of Andhra Pradesh and also North Arcot districts of Tamilnadu. The Muttaracha warriors were employed by the Vijayanagar kings to defend their country frontiers, and were honoured with the title of Paligars (Palaiyakkarans). The word Muthracha is derived from the Dravidian roots - Mudi and Racha. There is also another derivation is from Mutu Raja, which means a soveriegn of some part of Telugu country. They eat animal meat , fowl and drink liquor. Some of them eat pork. They do not eat beef. The use honorific titles such as Dora and Naidu. Mudi = Old or Ancient or Great Racha = King Dora = Lord or Sahib The people of this caste are numerous in Hyderabad, Madras. They are also found in some numbers in Chanda (Chandrapur ) district of Central provience (present Vidarbha region). In Chand they took to the profession of masonary. They are Talaris or watchmen in Telangana region of Andhra Pradesh. As servants they are considered very faithful and courageous. This may be one of the reasons why these people became well known as Bantlu. Bantu means servant and Bantlu means servants. Actually, they call themselves as Bantarasas or bant warriors. But because of their faithful services to the kings, the word Bant became synonymous to Servant. In the North Arcot district, they are in great numbers in Chendragiri taluk. They are found all over the district as the village taliaris or watchmen. Because of this reason, this cate is often called Taliari caste. They proudly call themselves as paligars, and in Chendragiri as Doralu (Lords), because several of the Chittoor Palaiyams (Villages governed by Paligars) were in possession of members of their caste. They seem to have entered the country in the time of Vijayanagar kings, and to have been appointed as its kavilgars (Watchmen). The caste is usually esteemed by others as a low one. Most of its members are poor, even when they have left the profession of talaiari, and taken to agriculture. They eat in the houses of most other castes, and are not trammelled by many restrictions. In chendragiri $ they rarely marry , but form connections with women of their caste, which are often permanent, though not sanctioned by the marriage ceremony, and the offsring of such associations are regarded as legitimate. ( The Mutharacha men who used to live with women of their caste without marriage could possibly be the commando members of suicide squads employed by the Vijayanagar kings. ) In Nellore, Mutrachas are known as hunters, fishermen, bearers, palanquin-bearers, and hereditary watchmen in the villages. Some times, Mutracha or Mutrasan is known as a sub-division of Urali, and a title of Ambalakkaran . Muttiriyan is a Tamil form of Mutracha, and appears as a title and subdivision of Ambalakkaran. It is also observed that Tolagari is recorded as a sub-division of Mutracha. The Tolagaris are stated to be a small cultivating caste, who were formerly hunters, like the Palayakkarars. Most of the Mutrachas are engaged in agriculture. In the Karnool and other Rayalaseema districts, Mutrachas used to collect winged white-ants (flyinf termites = usillu), which they store in large pots as an article of food after drying them in sunlight. They are said to make use of some special powder as a means of attracting these flying white ants, in catching which they are great experts. It is said that in some places, the relations between Mutrachas and Gollas (Velirs) are strained * . Both these warrior groups were chiefs in Kodumbalu region and had matrimonial relations too. On the occasions of marriage among the caste people of Madigas, some pan-supari is set apart for the Mutrachas, as a mark of respect. * This coud be due to the reason that Velirs helped Vijayala Chola in dislodging Mutharaya king Perumbidugu Muttarayan from the seat of Tanjore. At that time Velirs and Cholas were the subordinates of Pallavas, and the Mutharayas were the subordinates of Pandyas. Pallavas and Pandyas used to fight their proxy was using Cholas and Mutharayas. In consequence of the fact that some Mutrachas have been petty chieftains, they claim to be the Kshatriyas, and to be descended from Yayati of Mahabharatha. There is a saying current among the Mutharachas that the Mutracha caste is as good as pearal, but became degraded as its members began to catch fish. According to a legend, the Mutrachas, being kshatriyas, wore the sacred thread (Jenhevu = Jandhyamu). Some of them, on their way home after a hunting expedition, halted by a pond, and were tempted by the enormous number of fish therein to fish for them, using their sacred threads as lines. They were seen by some brahmanas while thus engaged, and their degradation followed. History The ancient King Mandhata, whose reputation spread far and wide throughout India and whose stories of valor and yajna were described in the stone carvings of Mohenjo Daro, belonged to this tribe. The king was a great warrior ( Mahan joddha )and the city's original name " Mahan-Joddha-Oor" seems gradually modified to Mohenjodaro. The author of the Ramayana, Valmiki, is from this community. This is way they are known as Valimikis in some parts of India. Shabari, who offered Sri Rama and Sri Laxmana half-eaten 'ber' when they were searching for Sita Devi in the forest was a Bhil. Sri Rama appears in a Bhil myth where there has been a flood that wiped out humanity and Rama suggests how it can be repopulated [1]. Veda Vyas, the writer of great epic Mahabharata was son of Satyavathi of Koli community and a Brahmin Rishi. The first wife Ganga Mata and the second wife Satyavathi of Shantanu ofMahabharata were the daughters of Kolis chiefs. Thus the great warrior Bheeshma, Pandavas and Kauravas were part Bhil. This was the hidden reason why Arjuna could hit a fish with his arrow to win Draupadi in swayamvara.Ganga and fish are the symbols that are related to Kolis. The Mahabharata tells the story of Eklavya, a Bhil who surpassed the skill of Arjuna only to be suepressed by his guru. Lord Gautama Buddha's mother and wife belong to Koli community. Maharishi Matanga was another Hindu sage that became a Brahmana. Sant Kabir, a weaver by trade, ended several of his 'bhajans' as 'kahet kabir kori' was a self-confessed Koli. Purandara das, who was one of the greatest Carnatic singers and poets of Karnataka, was from Kabbaliga caste. The Kabbaligas claim that they are Mudiraj people settled in Karnataka. Their main profession is fishing and are also known as Bestha / Gangaputra. They are a variant of Kolis of Karnataka / Maharashtra. The story of Purandara Das reveals that he migrated from Maharashtra to Hampi and belonged to Koli Goddess Ankamma Mudiraju's popular deity is mother Goddess Ankamma. Ankamma is also known as Angamma, Ankalamma, Angalamma, Ankali, Angali, Ankala Parameswari, Angala Parameswari and Veerla Ankamma which is the same asKali. She is worshipped with these names in Andhra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. She was a royal deity of Chola and Muthrayar kings of South India. Rajendra Chola daughter Angamma Devi married an Eastern Chalukyan prince. Angalamman temple of Kaveripattinam is one among many holy places in Krishnagiri District of Tamil Nadu which were built during Chola and Vijayanagar periods. Ankamma is considered to be the mother of Trimurtis. The most important part of Ankamma Kolupu is that a midnight puja was performed with the help of ballads by making a colorful Rangoli with wheat flour, turmaric powder, kumkum, black charcoal powder, etc. At the end of the puja, the devotees sacrifice a goat. The Devara Kolupu / Veerla Kolupu is normally performed on some special occasions by individuals or by community as a whole. During the worship singers recite historical stories about warrior ancestors. In those stories, there is a reference to Dharma Choda Chari and his six brothers belonging solar race from Devagiri City in Maharastra. Kakatiyas who worshiped Goddess Kakati hailed from Maharastra Kaikadi Erukala branch of bhil community belonging to solar race. Devagiri was a capital city of Yadava kings in Maharashtra. Naik) community. Muthurajas Muthurajas are heavily populated in and around of Uraiyur which was the Head quarter of Early Cholas. Muthurajas ruled cholamandalam for 300 years with the help of Pallavas. Among mutharayar kings, Swaran maran a legend who ruled independently without the help of Pallavas and kept other tribal communities such as kallars, Vellalas and pallars under his control. Thatswhy he was called Kalvar kalvan and the inscription is found in Senthalai. Muthurajas also had matrimonial alliances with Pandyas, who were also known as Maha Rayas. The Valavans are a sub caste of Muthuraja in Tamil Nadu today. It is widely believed by Muthurajas that both these groups had the same origins. Mutharayars are Vellalas and the Kalabhra kings were also Vellalas. Kodumbalur Vellalas are believed to be either Mutharayars or a branch of Mutharayars. Mutharayars are traditional friends of Brahmins. Brahmins always encouraged mutharyars and the sub-castes are called by Ambalakkarar and Muthuraja. Both are honourable caste names as compared to other caste names in the state of Tamilnadu. If brahmin rises in Tamil nadu, that would help mutharayars rise back to Power. Soldiers, commandos & administrators In medieval times there was only a very small standing army of any kingdom. Most of the armies mustered belonged to the feudatories and subordinate nobles and Dukes. These soldiers were basically farmers. Then there were the retainers of the many land holders, the "camp followers" who assisted in transport and logistics. But a section of the kingdom's official army was specialised professional infantry. These groups were exclusively concerned with techniques of warfare, and here too one section were called Ekattalu, or Ontari (individual hand to hand fighters). In a sense they were commando type soldiers. Among the Mudiraju are these sections. They were usually in the service of Velamakingdoms. Today also the Mudiraju farmers are found today in the vicinity of old Velama controlled areas. It is said a section of the old Mudiraj were interior palace guards "suicide squads" i.e. the last line of defence of the Velama castles. While they mostly have a connection with the Velamas they are a distinct community, and it is likely they were active in earlier times too. In the Kakatiya times they used to spend most of their time developing Marital arts. Similar martial arts tradition is found in Orissa, Tamil Nadu and of course the well known Kalaaripayat of Kerala. In some places the Mudirajus acquired large properties and were "Zamindars" in Tamil Nadu. There is a tradition that Mudirajus were kings under Pallava emperors in Tanjore area of Tamil Nadu, until Vijayalaya Chola took over the area. Even long afterwards, some of them retained large estates. In fact one of them set up a college during earlyEnglish times. But on the whole Mudirajus today are middle and small farmers. The word "Mutharacha" was a professional designation for those people who used to administer "Muthass" in Dravidian Tribal Society since prehistoric times. The Mutha system of administration continued till British people imposed their system of administration in British India. Mutha: is a Koya word. It means a cluster of villages equal to a Mandal / Taluka, which formed the smallest administrative unit in tribal society. Racha (Raja): Racha is also a Koya word. Racha indicates the people of ruling class who used to administer the Muthas in Dravidian tribal society. The powers were transferred from one generation to another. Thus the Mutharachas were born administrators having warrior qualities as they were like sub kings with all military and judicial powers to administer Muthas. They were directly answerable to their King. The word Muthracha lost its value in the society as the system of Mutha died down and the Mutharachas became jobless. A large population of Mutharachas became farm laborers and coolis. They became one of poor backward class people. Religion The Kolis who worship the Souls of their warrior ancestors were known as "Veerkars". The Mudiraj also worship the Souls of their ancestors and the call the function as "Veerla Kolupu". The Kolis who worship the God / Goddess were known as "Devkars". The Mudiraj people also worship the God/ Goddess and the function is known as "Devara Kolupu". The Mudiraj are Shiva worshipers with vibhoothi (ash) on their foreheads. While Mudiraj people are known to worship Ankamma in Andhra Pradesh, the counter part people of Kolis in Maharastra worship Mumba Devi = Maha Amba Devi). Temples related to Mudiraj Community in Andhra Pradesh Thirupathi Chandragiri Podili Madikeri (Capital city of mudiraj’s) Selangor – Malaysia. Thirupathi There was a great contribution of Mudiraja related kings of Vijayanagar Empire in building, developing and managing the pilgrim center of Thirupathi from its very early days. The temple was sacred to the people of Kalabhras, the ancestors of Mudiraj, even before the establishment of Vijayanagar Empire. It was initially believed to be the temple of Bala (Devi) and then the temple of Jains and later the worship place of Buddhists and finally that of God Vishnu. In all its forms of worship, the God / Goddess was that of Mudiraj related. The God continued to change its form of appearance to general public with the change of Mudiraj and related kings from one form of worship to another and from one religion to another. The great Vijaynagar Empire, which was founded by Sangama brothers, Harihararaya and Bukkaraya, with pious and patriotic aim of protecting Hindu people, and Hindu Religion from the on slaught of Muslim invaders, paved the way for all round growth of many Hindu shrines as piligrim centres in South India. Tirupati is one such Hindu shrine which received great attention of various devouted kings of Vijayanagar Empire for about 300 years. Saluva Narasimha Raya, who ruled Vijayanagar Empire from Chandragiri, a nearby town to Tirupati was the first king to lay the foundations for the real growth of Tirupati. The king Saluva Narasimharaya was a highly devouted person to the Lord of seven hills (Tirupati) as Balaji was the family diety of Saluva kings. Tirupati was a sacred place and the Lord of Tirupati was worshipped as Emperuman by devotees since unknown times. Balaji was believed to be a statue of bala (girl = shakti) by shaktaites and shivaites believe it be a Shiva Temple. Jains claim it to be the statue of Mahaveer and Buddhists claim it to be the statue of Buddha. The prime reason for the contraversy is that Tirupati was a sacred place for the people of Kalabhra race and the kings of Kalabhra origin accepted all religions with open heart. They initially used to worship nature in the form of mother Goddess and were perhaps the founders of Shaktipuja. The people, who worship Goddess Ankamma, Mumbadevi, Kakatidevi, Durgadevi, etc., are all one and the same people and belong to aboriginal kalabhra race of Indian subcontinent. The kings of Kalabhra origin became shaivites during the vedik period and later became jains under the influence of Mahaveer. They became staunch followers of buddhism and antoganized bhrahmins by snatching away the lands which were given to them for maintaining the Hindu temples by earlier hindu kings. The brahmins inturn became furious and destroyed all historical evidences and information about the great kings of Kalabhra origin. Thus the period of Kalabhra regime during which Kalabhra kings ruled South India is termed as Dark Age by historians and if anything is known today about Kalabhra kings, it is only through some Buddhist literature and nothing else. Tirupati remained a sacred place and Lord vengadam hills continued to be worshipped in different forms as the kalabhra kings went on accepting different religions and supporting the same. So the statue of Thiru Vengadam underwent all possible trasfermations and finally today thiruvengadam is giving darshan to millions of devotees as Sri Vishnu. Thiruvengadam doned the appearance of Srivishnu as because the later kings of Kalabhra race embrassed the religious path of Sri Vaishnavism. It was due to unpreceedented influence of Adi Shankaracharya, who profounded the theory of Advaita phylosophy and included Buddha as 9th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. This brought about a magical change in the minds of people and they started seeing buddha and vishnu as well in the statue of thiruvengadam. With the revival of Hinduism under the influence of Adi Shankara and decline of buddhism, the statue of Thiruvengadam gradually got transformed into Srinivas ( Srivishnu ) with sridevi occupying a permanent seat in his heart. Millions of devotees of Tirupati Balaji, who reach on top of the seven hills join the long ques to see the statue of Balaji directly with their own eyes. During summer days the devotees come in such a large numbers that they have to wait for almost 3 days to enter into the que line to have the personal darshan (vision) and feel emotionally satisfied. It will take nothing less than 5-6 hours to come out of the long que after having Balaji's darshan. It is customary for about 80% of the devotees from South India to have a clean shave of their heads as a token symbol of their devotion to Balaji. This is considered as one kind of devotional sacrifise of personal beauty by his devotees to Balaji. This custom of clean shaving of heads by devotees and offering of hair to Balaji might be having its links to Buddhist tradition when Tiruvengadam was worshipped as Lord Buddha during the rule of Kalabhras. The devotees of Buddha, who perhaps used to visit Perumal of Thiruvengadam hills might have started this practice of clean shaving of heads as a symbol of sacrifise of world pleasures and personal beauty. Clean shaving of heads is a buddhist tradition and prevelent among all Buddhist monks even today. This practice of of clean shaving of heads by Hindus thus continued by the devotees of Tiruvengadam without knowing its origins, even though Tiruvengadam had changed his incornation from Buddha to Vishnu. Afterall the perumal of vengadam hills has no option other than taking a form which his devotees love and demand from him. The Kalabhra kings proved to be the real founders of Hinduism by accepting GOD in all possible forms i.e Shakti, Shiva, Buddha, Vishnu and so on. It is understood that the puja at Tirupati is quite unique from that of any other Vishnu temple and it includes many traditions of shaktaites, shivaites also. It is perhaps the only Vishnu temple where God is worshpped with bilva leaves, which are in fact the favourite leaves Shiva. Thus the lord of vengadam hills truly represents universal God of all human beings and all traditions. It is also believed that Rama and Laxmana while launching their war against Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, came here with their army of vanaras (monkey men) on their way to Lanka and rested here for a while. As such the region of vengadam hills was also possibly the land of vanaras as it is very closely located to Kishkinda i.e present Hampi region. The possibilty of Kalabhras to be the descendants of Vanaras is quite high as both were wild, valour and warrior in nature and belonged to the same geographical region in deccan India. EARLY HISTORY : Tirumala is a celebrated holy shrine from times immemorial. It has been attracting large number of pilgrims from all parts of India. The first available reference to the temple of Sri Venkatesvara on Tirumala (Chittoor district) is literary; it occurs in the sangam poetry of Tamil Nadu, ascribed to the first three countries of the Christian era. Then the early Alvars, or vaishnavaita saints, who lived and sang from about the fourth century to the ninth, refer to Vengadam, the original name of Tirumala. A jain tamil work, 'Silappadhikaram' , probably of the late Sangam age, shows that Vengadam was held in reverence even then. It was known as Vada Vengadam, which was at that time on the border land between the Tamil country and that of the Vadugar (Andhras). This Temple bears on its walls several inscriptions which are of historical, cultural and linguistic importance. The number of inscriptions on the Hill Temple and in the temples of Lower Tirupati and Tiruchanur exceed one thousand and they furnish a continuous and authentic record of the transactions of the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams for over seven or eight centuries. We have evidence to believe that many early inscriptions on the walls of the temples have disappeared beyond recovery due to restorations and renovations undertaken from time to time. The earliest stone record of the temple goes back to the 51st year of the reign of Ko-Vijaya-Danti Vikram Varma of the Pallava Dynasty (830 A.C.) when a certain 'Ulagapperumanar of Solanur in Sola-Nadu instituted the service of a lamp, nanda-vilakku, i.e., burning a lamp. The last one belongs to Kilaka (1909 A.C.) when the gilded kalasam was fixed over the Vimanam of Sri Venkateswara's shrine during the regime of Sri Mahant Prayagdasji. Even though these records cover roughly a period of 11 centuries, the dynasties that ruled South India are not fully represented. Inscriptions belonging to the Vijayanagar period are large in number, while those of earlier dynasties are only a few: Raja Raja Chola is the earliest king, whose name is associated with the main temple at Tirumala in a Tamil inscription issued in the 16th year of his rule. It is probable that, to start with, there was an image of the Lord set up in a small mandapa on the hill. The earliest inscription found in the hill temple records a gift by a prince who lived in the first half of the ninth century to the temple of sri venkatesvara in Tiruchanur, in the plains. This was probably a 'proxy' fane. Further gifts are recorded in the epigraphs of the Pallavas and the Cholos . A Pallava queen , Samavai, presents very costly jewels, while in the reign of Rajaraja 1, the great cholo(985-1014) , another queen gifts a superb gold jewels. Matli Kumara-Anantarajayya is the last in the line of great royal benefactors. A long Telugu stanza consisting of 41 lines in the Sisamalika metre engraved separately in Telugu and Tamil is found on the walls of a small shrine dedicated to Sri Venkateswara at the foot of the hill. It refers to the Sopana Marga, (flight of stone-steps) forming the pathway commencing from the foot of the hill usually called 'Alipiri' (i.e., Adipadi, the bottom or the lowest step) and extending on the side of the hill in a zig zag course upto the small tower commonly known as the Galigopuram, which stands on the summit of the front hill prominently visible on the plain country for a distance of about 8 to 10 miles. LATER HISTORY : It was during the rule of the Vijayanagar dynasty that the contributions to the temple increased. The foundations for the real growth of Thirupathi Temple to become a great Hindu shrine was laid by the Saluva kings, who ruled Vijayanagar Empire with Chandragiri as their capital. Chandragiri, which is about 12 KM from Tirupati was one of the capital towns of Vijaynagar empire. The Salva kings of Telugu origin made Chandragiri as their capital city and took a great interest in protecting Hindu people, Hindu religion and development of many Hindu shrines. Tirupati was developed into a famous Hindu Vaishnava piligrim center by the dedicated services of various saints and acharyas who lived and associated with pious king Saluva Narasimharaya of Vijayanagar Empire. The total credit to the magnificient growth of Tirupati shrine as the busiest and richest piligrim center of the world as on today must go to Saluva & Tuluva line of kings who ruled the great Vijaynagar empire. Saluva Narasimha Raya : Saluva Narasimha Raya, who ruled Vijayanagar Empire during 15th Century AD was a pious king and belonged to one of the popular royal dynasties of ancient India. This king was an ardent devotee of Lord Venkateswara of Tirupati and used to visit the temple by walking up the hill for worship. When the king became old and physically incapable to walk, he prayed the Lord to see him daily. One day a sculptor appeared before him and agreed to make an idol of the Lord for his daily worship. The king gave the sculptor the required materials for making the idol and the sculptor shut himself up in a room. As he did not come out of the room even after a reasonably long period, the room was broken open only to see the idol of the Lord; the sculptor missing. It is believed that the Lord himself came as the sculptor and the idol is considered as Swayambhu or self born. The king built a temple for the idol and he was instructed by the Lord in his dreams to consecrate the idol during the auspicious time, when the heavenly drums dundubhi would be heard. As fate would have it, some crows happened to fly over the royal drums with twigs in their beaks and the twigs accidentally dropped on the drums producing a sound, which was mistaken for the auspicious hour indicated by the Lord. The idol was duly consecrated at that hour which was inauspicious.The grief stricken king was pacified by the Lord in his dream that He would remain with him till his death, after which he would leave for a place by name GOSRIPURAM. After the demise of the king, a great fire broke out in the kingdom and the idol was thrown into a dilapidated well. As the legend has it, Swami Vijayindra Tirtha of Sree Kumbhakonam Mutt who happened to traverse that region during one of his tours, is said to have been led by a serpent to the well wherein the idol of the Lord was deposited. The Swamiji recovered the idol from the well and started worshipping the idol along with his other idols. Swami Vijayindra Tirtha visited Cochin and performed Chaturmasa Vrita among the Gauda Saraswat Brahmin Community of Cochin. Upon seeing the radiance of the idol, the community of Cochin under the leadership of Sri Mala Pai, requested the idol from the Swamiji. The Swamiji agreed to hand over the idol in exchange for a heap of gold coins that would immerse the idol. All the gold coins brought in by the wealthy Mala Pai could cover only the body of the idol and not its tip. It was presumed that the Lord did not want to stay at cochin as a property of an individual. Only gold coins and ornaments brought in from the home of every community member could cover the tip of the idol. Kanakabishekam, a symbolic ritual of this immersion of the idol in gold is performed to the Lord even to this day during any special occasion. Lord Srinivasa of the Seven Hills, known to Tamilians as Tiruvengada mudayan, had been praised, worshipped and enjoyed in several ways by the great Alwars, those mystics of Tamilnad who have set a new standard in the cult of bhakti. One can see the great popularity that Tiruvengadam and the Lord of Tiruvengadam enjoyed during the period of the earliest of the Alwars. The first four of them, all of the whom hailed from Tondaimandalam (the region round Madras - Chingleput) have sung many verses about the greatness of this great Hill and about its presiding Deity. This outstanding prominence is not to be found in the works of the later Alwars. Even the early Tamil classics like Silappadikaram have celebrated the greatness of Tiruvengadam and its Lord. In the open courtyard of this prakara stand four graceful and historic mandapas at the four corners . These were built by saluva narashima(1486-1491) in the name of himself, his queen and his two sons. he arranged for the processional image to be taken to each when Prasadam would be offered offered to the devotees. abutting the second gopura is a mandapa which contains the flagstaff and the Balipitha. the entrance gopura is of five tiers and rises to a height of 15m. On its basement are inscriptions of the thirteenth century.Outside the temple , facing it from the right, is the Thousand Pillar Mandap, which was built with the annual income from a village that saluva Narasimha endowed to the Lord in 1472. A fine museum of the temple's artifacts is housed here. Sometime ago music concerts used to be given here. in a straight line from the temple's entrance there is a shrine of Sri Anjaneya . Tirumala Raya Mandapam : Adjoining the Ranga Mandapam on the western side, and facing the Dhvajasthambha Mandapam is a spacious complex of pavilions known as the Tirumala Raya Mandapam or Anna Unjal Mandapam. It consists of two different levels, the front at a lower level and the rear at a higher. The southern or inner portion of this Mandapam was constructed by Saluva Narasimha in 1473 AD to celebrate a festival for Sri Venkateswara called Anna Unjal Tirunal. This structure was extended to its present size by Araviti Bukkaraya Ramaraja, Sriranga Raja and Tirumala Raja. It is in this Mandapam, that the utsava murthi Malayappan, holds His annual darbar or Asthanam during the hoisting of the Garudadhwaja on Dhwajastambham to mark the commencement of Brahmotsavam. Incidentally, the prasadam distributed on this occasion is still called Tirumalarayan Pongal. The Mandapam has a typical complex of pillars in the Vijayanagara style, with a central pillar surrounded by smaller pillars, some of which emit musical notes when struck with a stone. The main pillars have rearing horses with warriors mounted on them. Some of the best sculptures of the temple are found in bold relief in the Mandapam. The bronze statues of Todermallu, his mother Matha Mohana Devi and wife Pitha Bibi, are kept in a corner of the Mandapam Pavitrotsavam festival is thoroughly puritan in character. The Pavitrotsavam is different in character from the Samprokshana ( purificatory ceremony ) which is usually performed in temples to remove the evil effects of acts of defilement or pollution committed within the consecrated area of the temple proper and the space enclosed by the spots where Bali is offered before the commencement of a Brahmotsavam. During Pavitrotsavam the Deity Himself acts as the dynamo generating power by the recitation of Mantras, the Vedas and the Puranas. Its celebration in Tirumalai is mentioned for the first time in an inscription of the year 1464 A.D. The Tamil wording of the inscription does not make it clear whether the festival was instituted only in 1464 A.D. or whether the donor, Sriman Mahamandaleswara Medinimisara ganda Kattari Saluva Mallayadeva Maharaja merely caused the festival to be celebrated in his name. Sri Krishnadeva Raya : Sri Krishnadeva Raya of Tuluva dynasty was the next prominent king who consolidated the developmental plans of Thirupathi Shrine. It is under the Rays of Vijaynagar that the temple enjoyed its great days. In particular, two of them, Krishnadeva (1509-30) and his successor, Achyutha (1530-42), were much devoted to it and showered splendid gifts on it.Sri Krishnadeva Raya constructed many beautiful palaces and temples with mandapas and gopurams. The Tirupati temple is one of them. Sri Krishnadevaraya paid seven visits to the temple of Sri Venkateswara (From 1513 A.C. to 1524 A.C.). Krishnadeva visited the temple for the first time in February 10, 1513, and gifted a crown of nine jewels, a a three-stringed necklace containing pearls and precious stones, and twenty-five silver plates. His two queens Tirumaladevi and Chinnadevi were present with him during almost all his visits to Tirumala and they shared with him the credit for the gifts and grants made by him. His queens, Chinnaji and Tirumaladevi, each gave a gold cup. It was during his second visit on may 2 of the same year, that he made the most splendid and most numerous of all his gifts. These included a sword set with the diamond, ruby and sapphire, a sword sheath, a pendant, two gold strings and three crowns for the processional images. On July 6, 1514, during his return journey to Hampi after having captured Udayagiri fort & defeating Prataparudra, the gajapati king of Kalinga, Krishnadeva performed the splendid ceremonial of the "Karnatakabishekam" , or bathing the Lord's image with gold coins. He also gave three stringed ornaments. Queen Chinnaji gifted a necklace, and Queen Tirumaladevi, a jewel set with the diamond, ruby, emerald and pearl. On his return from another victorious expedition against Kalinga on October 25, 1515, the emperor gifted an enormous jewelled halo, or Prabhavali . On july 2, 1517, in thanksgiving for yet another victorious campaign against Kalinga, during which he planted a pillar of his fame in Simhardi Potnuru, near Simhachalam, he spent 30,000 gold coins in order to gild the Vimana, and gave two jewels. He seems to have made yet another Pilgrimage to Tirumala on October 16, 1518. An inscription in Kamalapuram, near hampi, records this visit, but none on Tirumala or in Tirupati. Queen Tirumaladevi accompanied him. His last visit was on February 17, 1521, when he gifted four costly jewelled ornaments. Queen Tirumaladevi gave an ornament with nine jewels to Lord. In addition, many magnates of the empire made gifts. He not only presented diadems and ornaments set with precious stones, gold and silver vessels to his patron God, but also endowed the temple with villages in the districts of Chandragiri, Udayagiri and Penugonda. Sri Krishna Deva Raya had bronze statues of himself and his two consorts Tirumala Devi and Chinnadevi installed at the inner right side to the entrance of the temple of Sri Venkateswara at Tirumala, and these statues can be seen to this day. There is also a statue of Venkatapati Raya in the main temple. Achyutha was equally devoted to the Lord. His first act on accession to the throne was to come to Tirumala & crown himself. He then went to Sri Kalahasti and crowned himself here again . He frequently revisited the two temples, the the most famous in his empire. Though the Vijaynagar power was broken in battle in 1565, the devotion of the Rayas continued. After removing there capital to Penukonda, they ruled from Chandragiri, contiguous to Tirumala. Their devotion to the Lord may be judged from the fact that they would not take there first principal meal of the day untill they had learnt that worship had been completed in the temple. To ascertain this they erected huge gongs in succession. One of these gongs still stands on Chandragiri . There were troubled times after the final disappearance of the Vijayanagar power in the seventeenth century. But the British, who re-established law & order, followed scrupulously a policy of non-interference with local religions & customs. The Maratha general, Raghoji Bhonsle visited the temple and set up a permanent endowment for the conduct of worship in the temple. He also presented valuable jewels to the Lord, including a large emerald that is still preserved in a box named after the general. Among the later rulers who have endowed large amounts are the rulers of Mysore and Gadwal. Under the patronage of almost all important dynasties of South India, this sacred Temple of Tirumala enjoyed the full benefits and glories. There is ample literary and epigraphic testimony to the antiquity of the temple of Lord Sri Venkateswara. All the great dynasties of rulers of the southern peninsula have paid homage to Lord Sri Venkateswara in this ancient shrine. The Pallavas of Kancheepuram (9th century AD), the Cholas of Thanjavur (10th century AD), the Pandyas of Madurai, Kadavarayas, Yadavarayas, Telugu Cholas, Telugu Pallavas, the kings and chieftains of Vijayanagar (14th - 15th century AD) were devotees of the Lord and have left the marks of their patronage and endowments on the walls of the Temples of Tirumala and Tirupati. In addition to the epigraphical lore of the temple we have a unique collection of about 3000 copper plates on which the Telugu Sankirtanas of Tallapaka Annamacharya and his descendants are inscribed. This collection forms a valuable source of material for a historical linguist in Telugu, apart from its importance to musicologists. RECENT HISTORY : After the fall of Hindu kingdoms, came the Muslim rulers of Karnataka and after their downfall the British took over, and many of the temples came under their supervisory and protective control. In 1843 AD, the East India Company divested itself of the direct management of non-Christian places of worship and native religious institutions. In AD 1843, the administration of the shrine of Sri Venkateswara and a number of estates were entrusted to Sri Seva Dossji of the Hatiramji Mutt at Tirumala, and the temple remained under the administration of the Mahants for nearly a century, until AD 1933. It was after the country's independence that the people's devotion became magnificently explicit through large donations to the temples treasury. These have made the temple the richest in the country. With its funds, a university, many colleges, learned institutions and social welfare organisations are being maintained. In 1933, the Madras Legislature passed a special act, which empowered the Tirumala Tirupati Devastha- nams (TTD) Committee to control and administer a fixed group of temples in the Tirumala-Tirupati area, through a Commissioner appointed by the Government of Madras. In 1951, the Act of 1933 was replaced by an enactment whereby the administration of TTD was entrusted to a Board of Trustees, and the Government appointed an Executive Officer. LOCATION : Tirumala is located in the extreme southeast of the southern state of Andhra Pradesh. It is situated in the Chittoor district of the state. The Tirumala Hill is 3200 ft above sea level, and is about 10.33 sq miles in area. It comprises seven peaks, representing the seven hoods of Adisesha, thus earning the name Sesha- chalam. The seven peaks are called Seshadri, Neeladri, Garudadri, Anjanadri, Vrishabhadri, Narayanadri and Venkatadri. Lord Venkateswara resides on the 7th peak Venkatadri and so he is called Sri Venkateswara. It is the sacred hill of Tirumala, which was considered so holy that before 1870 non-Hindus were not permitted to ascend it. Tirupati is 137 km from Chennai, 258 km from Bangalore, and 562 km from Hyderabad (via Kurnool and Cuddapah). The Temple has its origins in Vaishnavism, an ancient sect that advocates the principles of equality and love and prohibits animal sacrifice. The Lord Venkateswara Temple is the busiest and richest temple in the world, eclipsing even Rome, Jerusalem and Mecca in the number of pilgrims visiting it. TEMPLE DETAILS : The temple is 126.5 metres long and 80 metres wide. Three Prakaras, or enclosures, surround the central shrine of Sri Venketesvara. The original must have been limited to the sanctum and perhaps a mandapa or two in front. In the thirteenth century it was considerably expanded. Then further structures continued to be added from time to time so that today it occupies 0.9 hectares. Together with the four streets running around the temple, the Swami Puskarani, another tank which is now a flower garden, and the private or secular structures on the streets, the entire area measures 6.5 hectares. Some of these structures are monasteries erected by royal and noble patrons. The original temple consisted of the sanctum, a squre mandapa called the sayana mandap, a pillared verandah named the Mukkoti Pradakshina and another mandapa of the name of Rama Meda. The Mukkoti Pradakshina is considered the first Prakara, so that the temple has three of them. But it is open only on one day in the year . Vaikunda Ekadesi Day. Today the sanctum stands at the western end of a complex of structures. The first is an open hall, borne on sixteen pillars. It is called the Tirumamani Mandapa from two huge bells which are placed there. It was built in 1417 by a resident of Chandragiri. From this mandapa to the next, the Snapana mandapa, the entrance is by way of a golden door, the Bangaru vakili. on either side of the entrance are two dvarapalakas, Jaya and Vijaya. The door is plated with gold. The famous morning hymn, the Suprabatham, the singing of which is a feature of Hindu customs today, is recited in front of this door. The snapana mandapa, which has four central pillars, belongs to Vijayanagara times. The complex of structures, including the sanctum, stands in a pradakshina. It contains three shrines, an ornate mandapa, and a number of rooms. The shrines are of Sri Varadaraja, Sri Narasimha and Ramanuja. The kalyana Mandapa is a typical Vijayanagar structure, with a beautiful inner mandapa borne on four pillars. In a room on the northern side were discovered hundreds of copper plates, on which are inscribed the compositions of a great composer, Annamacharya, in praise of Sri Venkatesvara. A fine portrait of the composer is on the walls. His compositions have been edited and published. They are very popular with musicians and listeners. An inscription of 1469 refers to Sri Narasimha in the shrine here. The inner, or second , gopura which leads from the Vimana Pradakshina to the first prakara, called the sampangi Prakara, or Pradakshina, is similar to the outer one in design. There are a number of inscriptions in the outer walls. In general, the oldest epigraphs in the temple occure on the basements of the gopuras, those next in time on the inner faces of the prakara walls, and those of the fifteen and sixteenth centuries on the outer faces of these walls. The first prakara is much bigger and contains a number of structures. On either side of the first gopura entrance there is a mandapa. Each wing has a row of four pillars . The mandapa, called the Krishnaraya Mandapa, contains some celebrated portrait bronzes. The finest are of Krishnadeva, Titumaladevi and Chinnaji, their names inscribed on them. Another emperor, Tirumala, and his consort also stand here. There is, further, a portrait of Venkatapathi, still another of the emperors. In addition, there is group of three, Todarmal, his mother Matha Mohan De, and his wife Pitha Bibi. He was a general under Muslim rulers at the begining of the 8th century A.D. All the figures are in attitudes of respectful veneration, facing in the direction of the Lord in the sanctum. In the neighboring Ranga Mandapa there is a shrine there is a shrine permanently closed where, it is said, the main image of Sri Rangananth, of Srirangam , was preserved for a time in the fourteenth century because the muslims were occupying that great temple. A third mandapa in this prakara, the tirumal Raya or Anna Unjal mandapa, was originally built in 1473 and extended to its present dimensions in the last quarter of the sixteenth century. A fourth structure here is the Aina mandapa. In the open courtyard of this prakara stand four graceful and historic mandapas at the four corners . These were built by saluva narashima(1486-1491) in the name of himself, his queen and his two sons. He arranged for the processional image to be taken to each when Prasadam would be offered offered to the devotees. Abutting the second gopura is a mandapa which contains the flagstaff and the Balipitha. The entrance gopura is of five tiers and rises to a height of 15m. On its basement are inscriptions of the thirteenth century. Outside the temple , facing it from the right, is the Thousand Pillar Mandap, which was built with the annual income from a village that saluva Narasimha endowed to the Lord in 1472. A fine museum of the temple's artifacts is housed here. Sometime ago music concerts used to be given here. in a straight line from the temple's entrance there is a shrine of Sri Anjaneya. The Vimana, as it is called, is the most sacred spot over the Lord Venkatesa. From an inscription of the Varadaraja temple of Conjeevaram, we learn that one Tatacharya built the Vimana of Lord Venkateswara with gold in the year Pramodoota, corresponding to 1492 Saka Era or 1570 A.D. This Tatacharya was the General Superintendent of the temple affairs of the Vijayanagar king Venkatapathi Deva Maharaja. He was also the spiritual guru of the king and the king is said to have offered his entire kingdom to him in his admiration for the Acharya. Lord Vishnu as Varahaswami has his shrine on the banks of the Swami - pushkarini Tirtha. While the vast majority of Pilgrims ascend the hills from Tirupati, there are two other mountain paths from the plains. One leads from Mamandur in Cuddapah district. The other, covering a short distance of some 6.5 Km, but with no steps most of the way, only huge boulders piled up, leads to Tirumala from Mangapuram and Chandragiri. This was the route to Tirumala Vijayanagar capital in the sixteenth century. There is a lovely, almost Hoysala-like, temple of Kalyana Venkatesvara in Mangapuram. Chandragiri contains two places, the Raja Mahal & the Rani Mahal . The former is a magnificent structure, in the fully developed secular vijaynagar style. The Tirupati pilgrimage has been a time honoured institution. It attracts thousands of pilgrims from all parts of the country. The queues they form in the Tirumala temple, winding in & out of many buildings and structures inside & outside the fane, so that one might easily need three hours at the least to obtain darshan of the Lord, are remarkable sights, hardly paralleled anywhere in India. The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthamans, which administers the affairs of the Tirumala and its allied temples, is a vast organisation. Madikeri The history of Madikeri is related to the history of Kodagu. Mudduraja was one of the famous kings of Kodagu region who founded the Madikeri Town and ruled his kingdom from Madikeri as his capital city. Mercara, or Madikeri as is commonly known by the local populace is the headquarters of Coorg (Kodagu) district. It was founded by a prince - Mudduraja of Haleri dynasty in 1681 AD. It owes its name to him as Muddurajanakeri which became Muddurakayray which in time became Madikeri for the locals whilst the British called this province as Mercara. Muddurajakeri which means Mudduraja's town, was named after the prominent Haleri king, Mudduraja who ruled Kodagu from 1633-1687. The prominent rulers were Mudduraja (1633-87), Lingaraja (1775-80) and Virarajendra Wodeyar (1789-1809). Dodda Vira Raja (also called Siribai Dodda Vira Raja) ruled from 1687 – 1736. Dodda Vira Rajendra (1780 – 1809) and Linga Raja II (1811 – 1820) also had significant impact on the history of the region. Dodda Vira Raja improved transportation by building bridges across ancient trenches. He also streamlined the administration of the region into villages, districts and appointed district headmen. Mudduraja built a mud fort and a palace inside the fort in the last quarter of the 17th century. The fort was eventually rebuilt in granite by Tippu Sultan who named the site as Jaffarabad. In 1790, Doddaveer Rajendra took control of the fort which changed hands to the British who added to the fort in 1834. There are 6 circular bastions at the angles and the entrance on the east is very intricate and circuitous. You will find 2 life size masonry elephants in the north east corner at the entrance. At the southeast corner is a church built in 1855 which houses an archeological museum. The palace was renovated by Lingarajendra Woddeyar II in 1812-1814 which houses some government offices now. The palegar chieftains were defeated by the Haleri kings who ruled Kodagu from 1600-1834 A.D. Haleri kings made the place Haleri, near Madikeri as their capital. Mudduraja, the third king among the Haleri kings started leveling the land around Madikeri and built a fort in the year 1681. This place was named as Muddurajakeri which later became Madikeri. Kodagu became the part of British India after 1834 A.D. Muddu Raja removed the capital to Madikeri or Mercara, where he built the fort and palace in 1681. Of his three sons, Dodda Virappa, the eldest, succeeded him at Mercara, while Appaji Raja and Nanda Raja the second and third, settled at Haleri and Horamale. Madikeri lies in the Western Ghats and is a popular hill station. It lies at an altitude of 1,170 meters above sea level. The nearest cities are Mangalore to the west, and Mysore to the east. Mercara is about 120 km from Mysore. Madikeri is the land of the Kodavas. The names of Kodava / kodagu people are characteristic and include a clan name. The clan is central to Kodava culture and families trace their lineage through clans. They have distinctive dresses, the men wearing wraparound robes called the Kupya (now only seen at ceremonial occasions), and the women with a distinctive style of wearing the sari. The Kodava woman wears a sari with the pleats at the back. They have many distinctive practices such as carrying ceremonial knives, and martial war dances. The culture also includes communal gatherings where drink, dance and special meat dishes seasoned with Garcinia are central attractions. The main local language of Madikeri is Kodava Takk though most of the people here are bilingual in Kannada. Madikeri is the land of the Kodavas. The names of Kodava people are characteristic and include a clan name. The clan is central to Kodava culture and families trace their lineage through clans. They have distinctive dresses, the men wearing wraparound robes called the Kupya (now only seen at ceremonial occasions), and the women with a distinctive style of wearing the sari. The Kodava woman wears a sari with the pleats at the back. They have many distinctive practices such as carrying ceremonial knives, and martial war dances. The culture also includes communal gatherings where drink, dance and special meat dishes seasoned with Garcinia are central attractions. Kodavas follow Hinduism but are more liberal and independent than any other Hindu in performing marriage, divorce, remarriage, festivals, worship, ceremonies, dialect and dress. They worship Karana (ancestors) as family deity, Kaveri as Godmother and Iggutappa as presiding deity. Most of the temples in villages have their origin from Kerala and routine maintenance is by Brahmins from Uttara/Dakshina Kannada districts. The Haleri dynasty of Lingayats by tradition belonged to the priestly class. They rarely needed Brahmins to conduct poojas and other rituals. Because of this, the few Brahmins who lived in Kodagu did not have much importance in the court of the Haleri Kings. Dowry system is unknown here and marriage ceremony with traditional dress and without a Brahmin or puja or mangalasutra, but with non-vegetarian dishes and liquor are unique of Kodava community. It appears that the surnames of some Mudiraj people such as "Kodemala" and "Kodimela" are closely related to "Kodamale Nadu" or "Kodimale Nadu" which stands for Coorg or Kodagu region ruled by Mudduraja. The people of Mudiraj community in Karnataka are known as Mudduraja. Kodimalenadu => Kodimale => Kodimela Kodamalenadu => Kodamale = Kodemala Historical inscriptions show that Kodagu was included in the Kingdom of Gangas in the 9th and 10th centuries and Cholas in the 11th century. SELANGOR-MALAYSIA This information is provided by Mr. Poovarasan from Malaysia and his contribution is gratefully acknowledged. His indentity can be seen from "Malaysia section" in the webpage "NRI MUDIRAJ" of this MUDIRAJA website Poovarasan says that " When I was 16 years old, I had read an old history book (Malay Version) that stated, Selangor was called as Selangore. That means, few hundred years before, Raja Raja ( Rajendra ? ) Cholan discovered Malaiyur (Malaya and then Malaysia) and named the state as Solan/Cholan Oor and thus the state came to be called Selangor". Ooru => Oor = Village / Town Cholan Ooru => Solan Oor => Solanor => Selangor = Selangore " Until now, there is a street called Jalan Raja Chulan in Kuala Lumpur. Most of all Tamil History distinguished by now-a-days Malay Rulers in Malaysia. There is no much evidence to prove this and I lost the History book that I ever read approximately aged 30 to 40 years back". It is recorded in history that Rajendra Chola conquered a few fareast countries and controlled their administation from India. Chola's Rule in Malaysia Selangor is one of the 13 states of Malaysia. Malaysian Indians are a group of Malaysians largely descended from those who migrated from southern India during the British colonization of Malaya. Prior to British colonization, Tamils had been conspicuous in the archipelago much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South India kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century. By that time, Tamils were among the most important trading peoples of maritime Asia. Across Malaysia today there is a rolling back of the 2,000-year-old culture of the Malays, brought with the Chola and Srivijaya kings from India. There is evidence of the existence of Indianized kingdoms such as Gangga Negara, Old Kedah, Srivijaya since approximately 1500 years ago. Early contact between the kingdoms of Tamilakkam and the Malay peninsula had been very close during the regimes of the Pallava Kings (from the 4th to the 9th Century C.E.) and Chola kings (from the 9th to the 13th Century C.E.). The trade relations the Tamil merchants had with the ports of Malaya led to the emergence of Indianized kingdoms like Kadaram (Old Kedah) and Langkasugam. From the 7th to the 11th centuries, the Srivijaya empire in south-east Sumatra grew rich and powerful from this commerce. Referred to as San-fo-ts'i in Chinese writings, Sribuza by the Arabs and Sriwijaya by the Indians, the Srivijaya empire's very existence long remained virtually mythical due to lack of physical evidence. This mysterious empire was also known to have developed as a renowned centre of Buddhist learning and Tantric practices. I Ching, a Chinese monk of the late 7th century, recommended that his fellow monks spend time in Srivijaya in order to learn Sanskrit before journeying on to India. Srivijaya's economical and political predominance attracted the jealousy of other kingdoms and the empire fell in 1025 to an attack by the Indian kingdom of Chola. Furthermore, Chola king Rajendra Chola I sent an expedition to Kadaram (Sri Vijaya) during the 11th century conquering that country on behalf of one of its rulers who sought his protection and to have established him on the throne. The Cholas had a powerful merchant and naval fleet in the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. Three kinds of craft are distinguished by the author of the Periplus – light coasting boats for local traffic, larger vessels of a more complicated structure and greater carrying capacity, and lastly the big ocean-going vessels that made the voyages to Malaya, Sumatra, and the Ganges. In 1025, Rajendra Chola, the Chola king from Coromandel in South India, conquered Kedah from Srivijaya and occupied it for some time. The Cholas continued a series of raids and conquests throughout what is now Indonesia and Malaysia for the next 20 years. Although the Chola invasion was ultimately unsuccessful, it gravely weakened the Srivijayan hegemony and enabled the formation of regional kingdoms based, like Kediri, on intensive agriculture rather than coastal and long-distance trade. For six hundred years or more Kedah became an important port of call for Chola-mandala (Coromandel). But in A.D. I0I7 Coromandel's famous ruler, Rajendra Chola I, made war on Sri Vijaya and, in 1025, overhwelmed it and her colonies in the Malay Peninsula. Sri Vijaya seems to have recovered from this setback, only to be attacked in 1068 by another Chola king, Vira Rajendra. Vira Rajendra conquered Kedah, apparently at the request of its ruler who wanted to win independence from Sri Vijaya. Kedah was an important stop on a trade route, and was consequently conquered in 1025 by the Indian king Rajendra Chola. His successor, Vir Rajendra Chola, greatly reduced the influence of Srivijaya after he successfully put down a Kedah rebellion. Eventually, the Buddhist kingdom of Ligor gained control of Kedah and the Malay inhabitants adopted Buddhism and Hinduism, as well as the Sanskrit language. Aspects of Malaysian culture from this period are still evident today. During the first millennium, most of the peninsula and islands were under the rule of Srivijaya kingdom, which was succeeded by several Malay kingdoms during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. There were numerous Malay kingdoms in the 2nd and 3rd century A.D., as many as 30 according to Chinese sources. Kedah – known as Kedaram or Kataha, in ancient Pallava or Sanskrit – was in the direct route of invasions of Indian traders and kings. Rajendra Chola, who is now thought to have laid Kota Gelanggi to waste, put Kedah to heel in 1025 but his successor, Vir Rajendra Chola, had to put down a Kedah rebellion to overthrow the invaders. The coming of the Chola reduced the majesty of Srivijaya which had exerted influence over Kedah and Pattani and even as far as Ligor. There are reports of other areas older than Kedah – the ancient kingdom of Ganganegara, around Bruas in Perak, for instance – that pushes Malaysian history even further into antiquity. If that is not enough, a Tamil poem, Pattinapillai, of the second century A.D., describes goods from Kadaram heaped in the broad streets of the Chola capital; a seventh century Sanskrit drama, Kaumudhimahotsva, refers to Kedah as Kataha-nagari. The Agnipurana also mentions a territory known Anda-Kataha with one of its boundaries delineated by a peak, which scholars believe is Gunong Jerai. Stories from the Katasaritasagaram describe the life of elegance of life in Kataha. Kedah, the west coast of Malaya, is known as Kadaram in Tamil. Kadaram-kandan, "conqueror of Kadaram" was one of the attributes given to Rajendra Cholan I of the Tamil Chola empire of the early 11th century A.D. There is also a place in the Madurai District in Tamil Nadu, of the Pandyan Empire, with the name Kadaram. History speaks that the South Indian Chola Dynasty settlers at Kuala Kedah (Gunung Jerai) referred Kedah as Kadaram and the people of Malaya then as Malai People (People of the mountenous country). Mayirudinggam, Mappappalam, Mewilimbanggam, and Madamalingam are to be identified in the northern part of the Malay Peninsula. These are among the several states that were part of the Sri Vijaya empire but were overwhelmed by Rajendra Chola I in 1025 A.D. A Tanjore Inscription which commemorates this victory mentions the place names. Cheras is a suburb located in both Kuala Lumpur and Selangor. Originally, Cheras is the name of a kingdom in ancient Tamilakkam. Outside of Malaysia on the central part of the island of Sumatra are a group of people called the Karo Bataks carrying Dravidian clan names such as Chera, Chola, Pandya, and Pallava. The weakness of the Malay states in this period allowed other people to migrate into the Malay homelands. The most significant migrants being the Bugis, seafarers from eastern Indonesia, who regularly raided the Malay coasts. They seized control of Johore following the assassination of the last Sultan of the old Melaka royal line in 1699 and other Bugis took control of Selangor. Muthurajas (A.D 655 - A.D 851) were Tamil kings who ruled parts of Thanjavur, Tiruchy, Pudukkottai, Perambalur, Tiruvarur, Nagappattian, Dindikkal, Karur and madurai districts of Tamil Nadu. They were a long time feudatory to the Pallavas. As their territory lay between the Pandya and Pallava kings, they were involved in almost all the contests between the two powers. Their subordination was of great assistance to the Pallavas not only in their struggle against the Pandyas but also in holding the Cholas under subjection. End of Mutharaiyar rule/Rise of Cholas Making use of the opportunity during a war between Pandyas and Pallavas, Vijayalaya rose out of obscurity and captured Thanjavur in 848 C.E. During the 8th century Mutharaiyars family of chiefs rule was ended by Vijayalaya. Mutharaiyars are considered to be part of the Pandya dynasty tree (as per a section of historians Mutharaiyars, Cholas, Cheras and Pandyas belong to common ancestry). At this time there was a great struggle going on between the Pallavas and the Pandyas for the political supremacy of South India. In this disturbed state of affairs, Vijayalaya seems to have found a good opportunity to defeat the Muttaraiyan chiefs, and make himself the ruler of Thanjavur and the surrounding Chola country. Vijayala Chola conquered Thanjavur from Elango Mutharayar who was the final ruler of Mutharaiyar dynasty. It is said that in the year A.D.852 Vijayalaya Chola waged war with the Muttaraiyar king Sattan Paliyilli (A.D.826-852) in the neighbouring east, and captured his territory of Thanjavur. While Vijayalaya Chola was a Pallava feudatory, the Muttaraiyan chief was a Pandya feudatory. Making use of the opportunity during a war between Pandyas and Pallavas, Vijayalaya rose out of obscurity and captured Thanjavur. As a result of this defeat of Muttarayar chiefs, Cholas became so powerful that Pallavas were also wiped out from Thanjavur region at a later stage. Origin As per Chola-Muthariyar research centre Tanjore, Cholas & Muthuraja were two branches of same people, who clashed on the issue of control over Kaveri Delta. Even today, Muthuraja is the majority community in the ancient Chola capital city Uraiyur. The Govt. of Tamil Nadu had issued a Government Order No. 15 dated 22.02.2006 regarding the following 29 subcastes are coming under Muthuraiyar community. 1. Muthuraja, 2. Muthuriyar, 3. Ambalakarar, 4. Servai, 5. Servaikarar, 6. Valaiyar, 7. Kannapakula Valayar, 8. Pardhava Valayar, 9. Palayakaran, 10. Kavalkar, 11. Thalaiyali, 12. Vazhuvadiyar, 13. Poozari, 14. Mudiraj, 15. Muthriya Moopar, 16. Muthriya Moopanar, 17.Muthriya Naidu, 18. Muthriya Naicker, 19. Palayakara Naidu, 20. Palayakara Naicker, 21. Muthuraja Naidu, 22. Vanniyakula Muthuraja, 23. Muthuriya Oorali Gounder, 24. Muthiriya Rao, 25. Vetuva Valaiyar, 26. Kuruvikara Valaiyar, 27. Ariyar, 28. Ambalam, 29. Pillai.
REFERENCE WEBSITE: http://www.mudirajindia.com/aboutus.html THANKS FOR ANDHIRA MUDIRAJ GROUPS நமது தமிழ்நாட்டில் உள்ளது போன்று ஆந்திராவிலும் நமது இனத்தவர்கள் வலைதளைத்தை தொடக்கி உள்ளனர் .அவர்கள் நம்மை விட ஒர்ருமாயில் அதிகமாகவே உள்ளனர் அது போன்று நாமும் அவர்களோடு சேர்ந்து ஒன்று படுவோம் வேர்ரிகன்போம்  நாம் முல்லை பெரியாறு பிரச்சனைள் தமிழனாக இருப்போம்  ஆனால் நாம் சாதி பிரச்சனையில் முதரையனாக இருப்போம்  முத்தரையர் முடிராஜு முத்துராஜா முடிராஜ் முதிர்ச அனைத்தும் ஒரு இனமே அதனால் நம் இன தலைவர்கள் மற்ற மாநிலங்களில் உள்ள தலைவர்களுடன் ஒன்று பட்டு இனி வரும் காலம் முத்தரையர் காலமாவே அமையட்டும்  வலைபதிவிடல் இடும் அனைத்து நம் உறவுகளுக்கும் என் மனமார்ந்த நன்றியை தெரிவித்து கொள்கிறேன்  ஜெய் முடிராஜ் ஜெய் முத்தரையர் ஜெய் முத்துராஜா ஜெய் முடிராஜா இம்மண்ணில் மற்ற இனங்கள் எல்லாம் வாழ்ந்தது அதை எங்கள் முத்தரைய இனமே ஆண்டது இனி ஆள போவதுமே எங்கள் முத்தரைய இனமே இப்படிக்கு சேர,சோழ,பாண்டிய,முத்தரைய,கலப்பிற,பளையக்கற,நாயக்க,விஜயநகர,பல்லவ நாட்டு இளவரசன் பா.மணிவண்ணன் அகில உலக முத்தரைய சங்கம்