We have named our family group as “Chinnamannur Clan ".
What this name “Chinnamannur “(cmr) stands for or why it is so named?
Here is the history of our native village.
We shall now fly backward in time and cross nearly 800 years, in one quick jump.
We are now standing at the fag end of the golden period of the Chola kingdom.
The mighty cholas have lost their hold on pandyas and the city of Madurai .
The pandyas are back again on their own, ruled by one 'kulabushana pandya mannan'.
He has two sons. – The elder son is Rajendran and the younger one is Rajasingan.
Rajendran, the crown prince, who became the pandya king in due course,was always fond of his younger brother and so were the general public who used to refer their king as Periaman (" Peria mannan ") and the younger brother as Chinnaman ( " Chinna mannan )
Later on, the second son Rajasingan got married to the only daughter of the Chola king.
In due course his mind got poisoned and he became jealous of his brother – now the king.
With the help of Cholas, he ventured to capture Madurai but lost the battle.
He felt ashamed for his greedy act, when his elder brother not only pardoned him but also showed magnanimity by giving him a separate portion to rule, as the king of Vala nadu.
“Vala Nadu “is Valam + Nadu, meaning fertile land.
It is the area of land at the bottom hills of Western Ghats, extending from the foot hills of kodaikanal in North West and up to periar & thekkadi mountain range in south end.
Named as Periakulam taluk by British was Vala-nadu, where rivers like Varaga nadhi, Periar river, Suruli river and other tributaries of Vaigai flow. Surrounded by continuous strips of mountains on its side, it had cultivable lands, hilly forests and thick jungles.
After becoming the king of Vala Nadu, Rajasinga pandyan temporarily made the temple town of veerapandi as his capital and developed cultivation.
When he went for hunting, he located a holy place by name 'Markayan kottai' on the western side bank of the river which in our old puranas was called Surabi nathi.
On the otherside of the river were flower forests (Poonga vanam) and which when cleared for habitation showed a Swayambu Lingam and an ancient Shiva temple!
The king came to know about the historical importance of this holy place as one mentioned in puranas as " Hari kesari nallur" - One among the five divine places of worship of Lord Shiva that helps the soul to get released from re-birth cycles and the other four being the present Kasi; Thiruvannamalai; Chidambaram and Thiruvarur.
When the king rebuilt the old temple city of harikesarinallur, general public gave it a new name, in honour of their king who was to them known as 'Chinaman'
Hence the name, Chinnaman + Oor = " Chinnamanoor "