Village administration

The temple inscriptions of Uthiramerur are notable for their historical descriptions of the rural self-governance. They indicate that Uthiramerur had two village assemblies: Sabha and Ur. The Sabha an exclusively Brahmin (priestly class) assembly, while the Ur was made up of people belonging to all the classes.^[6]

The earliest surviving inscriptions from Uthiramerur date to the reign of the Pallava king Dantivarman (795-846 CE). These inscriptions indicate that the Sabha was already a well-established and mature institution by this time. It managed land sales and an endowment fund for dredging a tank. It also assigned some duties to the Ur for managing the land deserted by tenants who could not afford to pay the taxes. A later inscription, from the reign of Dantivarman's successor Nandivarman III (846-869), describes the qualifications and tenure of archaka (priest) in a local temple. According to these early inscriptions, the Sabha assembled in the hall of the local temple. The meetings were summoned through beating of the drums. The inscriptions also contain several references to variyars, the executive officers subordinate to the Sabha.^[6]

Two later inscriptions of the Chola king Parantaka I (907–955) indicate the evolution of the administrative system. Instead of variyars (who were individuals), the executive powers were given to committees called variyams. Each variyam constituted 6 to 12 members, depending on the importance of its functions. The first inscription, dated to 919 CE, describes the rules for electing the committee members. The second inscription, dated to 921 CE, describes some amendments to these rules to make them more practical.^[6]

According to the 921 CE inscription, the village had 30 kudumbus or wards, from which the members of following committees were selected annually:^[6][4]

The inscription lays down the following qualifications for a nominee:^[6]

• Ownership of tax-paying land sized at least one-fourth of a veli (about an acre and a half). The land-owning requirement was reduced to one-eighth veli for people who had learned at least one Veda and one Bhashya.
• Residence in a house built on self-owned land
• Age between 35 and 70 years
• Knowledge of mantras and the Brahmanas (Vedic literature)
• Not one of the following:
  • An existing committee member (any committee) for the past 3 years
  • An existing committee member who (or whose relatives) had failed to submit accounts
  • One who (or whose relatives) had committed incest or first of the 5 great sins (the 5 great sins being killing a Brahmin, drinking alcohol, theft, adultery and associating with criminals).
  • One who has been an outcaste for association with low caste (unless he performs expiatory ceremonies)
  • One who is foolhardy
  • One who has stolen the property of others
  • One who has taken forbidden dishes

The candidates were selected via Kudavoloi (literally, pot [of] palm leaf [tickets]) system:^[6][4]

• Names of qualified candidates were written on palm leaf tickets
• The tickets were put into a pot and shuffled
• A young boy was asked to take out as many tickets as the number of positions available
• The name on the ticket was read out by all the priests
• The candidate, whose name was read out, was selected

The tenure of a committee member was 360 days. Anyone found guilty of an offence was immediately removed from the office.^[4] The Uthiramerur inscriptions indicate that parading on donkey was a punishment for offences such as incest, adultery, theft and forgery.^[6]

Religion

Hinduism (87.39%) and Christianity (9.00%) are the major religions.^[1]

The village has several important Hindu temples. The Sundaravarada Perumal temple is about 1200 years old, and was built under the reign of the Pallava king Nandivarman II. Other major temples are Vaikunda Perumal Temple and Subramanya temple.