The Vellalas, the cultivators of Munnur society

The cultivator community known as Vellalas were by and large village community. The Vellalas especially the agriculturists were very important community of the medieval society including the Oima nadu and the village Munnur. In the medieval period these Vellalar were the land owning class and some of them also members of the bureaucracy. This community was keenly interested in religious and charitable activities including Munnur temples and attained a commendable status in the social hierarchy.^[1] They were committed themselves in renovation and maintenance of temples and conducting festivals. For instance inscription^[2] dated during the fifth regnal year of Rajendra I (A.D.) records that one Kutteran Kovan a cultivator of Vallivalam village of Nallur Nadu donated a gift of 90 sheep for burning a perpetual lamp to the Presiding deity of the Siva temple.