Payyalore Agraharam - 100 Agraharams Project

Payyalore Agraharam - 100 Agraharams Project
There are different meanings attributed to the name 'Payyalore'. In Tamil பை means பசுமை or green. அயல் means neighbourhood. And thus 'Pai Ayal Oor' translates to the Neighbourhood / Land of Green.
However, I came to know that the other name of this place is 'Govatsapuri' where 'GHo' is Cow, 'Vatsa' could mean Calf / Beloved thus providing the meaning of Place of Cows which goes well with the temple lord in Payyalore, Sri Gopala Krishna Swamy.
The lord is with 'Chadurbuja' - 4 arms - with Changu, Chakra, Gadha and Butter in one hand.
I read that "This temple once upon a time was under the jurisdiction of the local ruler (Raja) Madhava Raja and Venugopala Varma who were the rulers of Kollengode. The kings had given enough agricultural lands for the administration and maintenance of the temple. These lands were given on lease to various persons. It was in the 1970 when the 'Tiller of the land' rule came that all the lands were taken over by the lessee." Now the temple also gets a bit of Devasom grant for covering salaries.
Dr.P.S.Viswanathan, the Managing Trustee is a wealth of information on the temples of this area and he is deeply involved in the upkeep and wellbeing of the temples.
Sri P.R.Ramachander mama has written an excellent summary of the temple which I reproduce here: "The Ithihyam(ancient story) is that a migrant Brahmin had a dream in which Lord Krishna commanded him to look for an idol lying immersed in the village tank. The next morning the Brahmin to his delight got the Idol from the tank. The Brahmin with his other community members constructed a small shelter for this God-given idol. There is also a story that this temple was constructed later on by one Sanku pattar, son of Ganga pattar. It seems that, a stranger visited Sanku patter and gave him a sealed jar and requested him to keep it in safe custody for a short period. After a year of waiting for the return of the stranger, out of curiosity, Sanku pattar opened the jar. To his surprise, he found valuable gold coins. He and his villagers thought that it was a God given gift. Sanku Patter in consultation with the villagers spent the entire gold for the construction of the Krishna temple. Sanku’s family who are known as Kolathuran Pattar Family are still contributing liberally for the maintenance of the temple. Even today they have special privileges as a mark of respect for the contribution of their forefathers who constructed the present Sree Krishna Temple.``
I read about a Dr Payyalore Krishna Iyer Rajagopalan who was a great scientist in Vector Borne Diseases. I wonder if any of his bloodline continue to hold connections with the Agraharam.
Having been recently reconsecrated, this temple is full of the cosmic energy which you would want to partake in.
Be here during the monsoon to soak in the beauty of the Kollengode area and the numerous waterfalls that appear with the rains.
Radhe Krishna
Sriram(Hari), 100-Agraharams Project
Rama Bhagavathar Charitable Trust
July 8, 2024