An Agraharam (Template:Langx or Template:Langx) was a grant of land and royal income from it, typically by a king or a noble family in ancient Tamilakam and in modern times in southern part of India, for religious purposes, particularly to Brahmins to maintain temples in that land or a pilgrimage site and to sustain their families.[1][2] Agraharams were also known as Template:Langx in ancient times. They were also known as ghatoka, and boya. Agraharams were built and maintained by dynasties such as the Pandya, Cholas, Kadambas, Pallavas, Vijayanagara and other Deccan dynasties since ancient times.[3]
They were known by different names in different parts of India, like Sāsana in Odisha.
The name Agraharam originates from the fact that the agraharams have lines of houses on either side of the road and the temple to the village god at the centre, thus resembling a garland around the temple. According to the traditional Hindu practice of architecture and town-planning, an agraharam is held to be two rows of houses running north–south on either side of a road at one end of which would be a temple to Shiva and at the other end, a temple to Vishnu. An example is Vadiveeswaram in Tamil Nadu.
With Brahmins taking up professions in urban areas and some migrating abroad, Agraharams are vanishing fast. Many of the traditional houses are giving way to concrete structures and commercial buildings. Agraharams were started in south India during the Pallava period since they followed Vedas. Initially, the Agraharam was maintained fully using royal patronage but later the Agraharam become a self-sustaining economy.
An early example of an existing description of an agraharam has been found in a 3rd-century CE Sangam poem called Perumpāṇāṟṟuppaṭai.[4][5] The poem is composed in the Akaval meter and consists of 500 lines.[6]
There are a number of places in Andhra Pradesh named agraharam. These places may have originated as Bramhin-populated villages. Examples of such settlements include:
Agraharams in Palakkad district are around 96. When the villages are counted in the municipal area, there are around 18 of them. The concept is similar with houses in row on both sides and a temple at one end. They may differ in shapes – some are in straight line, some are T-shaped and few have multiple temples within the village.
↑Precolonial India in Practice: Society, Region, and Identity in Medieval Andhra{{#if:|, {{{last}}}}. Oxford University Press(2001). ISBN 978-0-19-803123-9
