Dearest are the deer to the people in the state, for they have named their villages after the animal, with many a nomenclature having its root in 2,000-year-old Sangam literary works.

Ask Sivaranjani Velmurugan from the Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, and she would say as many as 80 villages across TN have been named after various deer and antelope species mentioned in the Sangam works, including Madurai Kaanji, Kurunthogai, Kalithogai, and Agananooru.

Elaborating, the 25-year-old archaeology researcher with a master’s degree in Tamil Literature says Iralai aka Karumaan, Pulvaai, Murukkumaan (blackbuck), Maraiyan (Boselaphus tragocamelus/Nilgai), Uzhaimaan (Axis Axis/chital), and Kadamaan (Rusa Unicolour/sambar), which all feature in the Sangam works, get mirrored in the names of the 80 villages, including Kadamankulam in Dindigul, S Maraikulam and Maraiyur in Virudhunagar, Murukkankuttai in Dharmapuri, Karumapuram in Salem, and Uzhaiyur in Ramanathapuram.

Tracing back the origin of Pulvaikulam, Pulvaikarai, and Pulvaaipatti in Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram districts, the researcher says the villages are named after the Pulvaai antelope. “Pul in Tamil could be translated as grass in English. Once, the present arid region of Ramanathapuram was replete with grasslands, and thus the names,” she says, adding on the other hand no village in the state is named after Navvi (Gazella Benetti), which also features in Sangam literature, as the deer species is rare in Tamil Nadu.

Plus, Maan — the Tamil word for deer — features in the names of at least 161 villages across TN, Sivaranjini points out, citing Vanmaan Nallur in Thanjavur, Maanur in Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Nilgiris, Tiruppur and Thirumaanur in Ariyalur as examples.

Speaking to TNIE, archaeological research foundation president V Rajaguru says naming the places after land, waterbodies, hills, trees, flowers, birds, animals, landscapes, soil, seasons, and the five elements of nature was a tradition of the Tamils, as they lived in harmony with nature.

“This tradition has long been part of Tamil culture, and among them is the practice of naming villages after deer and their species due to their abundance in the region,” he adds.