A Mini Yatra in historic THAGADUR / Dharmapuri
Dharmapuri was always on peripheral vision , as one of the names that popped up on highway signboards during occasional journeys to Grandmother's natal village in Musiri District. Never a pit stop . But the name was invariably commented upon : Dharmapuri : a City upholding Dharma......why, how, by whom ? Never found out ! Dharmapuri entered The Bucket List of Must See Destinations only when interest in Nolamba Architecture fizzed up a few years ago among like-minded friends. Dharmapuri had one treasure hailed as a cornucopia of refined Southerrn Nolambavadi Sculptural Art : Kamakshamma Temple , built in 9 CE , when Thagadur , ie ancient Dharmapuri, was an important junction on a busy trade route of Nolambavadi -32000 . Nolamba-Pallava King Mahendra had also developed the settlement of Mahendramangalam, within Thagadur region , which is today called Adiyamankottai . What is today called Dharmapuri , was Thagadur in Sangham Era - both the District and the ...