Uraiyur

Uraiyur (also spelt Woraiyur) pronunciation ⁱ is a locality in Tiruchirapalli city in Tamil Nadu, India. Uraiyur was the ancient name of Tiruchirappalli City. Now, it has become one of the busiest areas in Trichy City. It was the capital of the early Cholas, who were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country. Sometimes spelt as Urayur, this location is also known as Thirukkozhi, Nikalaapuri, Uranthai, and Kozhiyur or Koliyur.

There is definite mention of the Cholas, and their capital in Ashokan inscriptions in Orissa pushing back the antiquity of the Cholas as well as Uraiyur to 272–232 BCE, which was the period of Ashoka (ca. 304–232 BCE) who was ruler of the Maurya Dynasty of Pataliputra (modern Patna). Inscriptions and rock edicts of Ashoka and the Satavahanas describe Urayur as "the citadel and centre of the Cholas".^{[citation needed ]} Uraiyur was ruled by Karikala Cholan. A revered Digambar Jain Acharya, Samantabhadra, was born here in the later part of the second century CE.^{[citation needed ]} His notable works include Ratnakarandaka Shravakachara, Aaptamimamsa and Swambhu Stotra.

Uraiyur is also mentioned as the capital of the ancient great Chola King Karikalan before the 1st century CE until the dynasty was revived by Vijayalaya Chola c. 850 CE. The Cholas were one of the four great Tamil dynasties; (Pallavas, Cheras and Pandyas are the other three) who ruled over the Tamil country in South India, the Konkan coast, Deccan Plateau and during the peak reached beyond the Narmada up to the Ganges – Damodar delta from early antiquity.

The word Urayur in Tamil literally means "the residence". Urayur was an ancient Chola city with a fortress and city wall on the southern banks of the river Kaveri. The Imperial Cholas of the 9th century CE and later made Tanjavur their capital, and Urayur slowly lost its place in the Chola administration.^{[citation needed ]} During the Sangam age, Uraiyur was also known as Koḻi lit., ‘Rooster’. The name is explained by the myth of a rooster boldly confronting the elephant of the king. He was taken aback for a moment but then decided to build his empire around that place after he realized the cause for the boldness was the soil. The myth appears on a Chola square copper coin of the Sangam Age assigned to ca. 1st Century BC and also in Purananuru.

Several notable temples are situated here:

• Panchavarnaswamy Temple ^[1]
• Sri Azhagiya Manavala Perumal Temple ^[2]
• Vekkali Amman Temple ^[3]
• Thanthoneeswarar Temple

• Nilakanta Sastri, K.A. (1935). The CōĻas, University of Madras, Madras (Reprinted 1984).

• Chola dynasty
• Former capital cities in India
• Neighbourhoods and suburbs of Tiruchirappalli

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