The Salai of Munnur as on Advanced Educational Institutions

The temples provided ample facilities to run educational institutions in their own precincts. Such centers of learning were known as ghatikas, salais, mathas and agraharas. Several records speak of the existence of such educational institutions throughout Tamil Country. The ghatikas and the salais served as residential colleges for the study of Vedic literature and secular subjects.^[1] Plenty of evidences were available to understand the working of educational institutions of the Chola period. The village school was the common institution. Usually it functioned under the shade of a tree or in the verandah a of temples or mathas. The teachers who were worked in these schools were called vatthi (Teacher). They were remunerated from the common land held by the village Mahasabha. The spacious mandapas of the temples seem to have provided space for class rooms. The recitation of sacred hymns was considered an educational qualification for the Brahmin priests. Encouragement was also given to the recitation of such hymns by giving lands and food.^[2] The Munnur temple records also supply valuable information regarding the Salai an Advanced Educational Institution of the Munnur region. For instance an inscription^[3] of Rajendra I mention the donation of 90 sheep for providing ghee to the learned Brahmanas of the Salai and the same record also refers to the donation of 30sheep for providing butter milk while feeding their mid-day meal.

A typical and traditional system of education existed in the Chola period. One's wealth and birth were the basic qualification to get education. This system permitted the teacher to select his pupil. Probably, the teacher selected them only from higher circle. The industrial or technical education of this period had a typical background. It was carried out in the homes of artisans, under conditions governed by caste rules and the customs of the land. As this system provided education to a limited circle, majority of the people, in the Chola kingdom were involved in Agriculture and lacking behind developmental activities.^[4]

The Chola inscriptions mention certain Hindu temple as centers of higher learning. The Chola record^[5] mentions the functioning of a school at Ennayiram, Thirumukkudal and Thiruvetriur. These village schools imparted only religious-oriented education and taught Ramayana, Mahabarata and Puranas. It also expounded the philosophical ideas of Sivadharma, Somasiddhanta and Ramanujabhasya.^[6] They functioned effectively and got the sympathy and appreciation of a thoughtful and generous public. The rulers and the public rendered their assistance to these institutions.^[7] Akin to the Salai the agraharas, the Brahmin settlements established in and around this temple also imparted higher learning to the Brahmins in Vedas and other allied subjects. These Brahmin settlements nurtured young scholars in high learning. Inscriptions record their proficiency in different subjects. These scholars were encouraged by giving tax-free lands, house-sites and even the right of cultivation. Specialists in Vedas were honored by giving separate share in the village known as Bhatta Viritti.

The colleges for general higher education provided instruction in various branches of study. Besides, there were numberless little endowments for the pursuit of particular branches of study, like the Mimamsa of Prabhakara and grammar, under the guidance of individual teachers. The state also provided facilities for higher education. They owned large libraries with manuscripts literature on a variety of topics. The literature in the library increased in volumes and there was diversity from generation to generation. The matha, the palli and the vihara were the centre of learning. It was denominational in character and pursued in schools and colleges, attached to temples and mathas. It comprised a large number of teachers and pupils and provided all facilities to intellectual intercourse. These colleges admitted only the deserved students. They were selected by tests.^[8] The temples also served as the 'centre of learning'. In those days, the state entrusted the responsibility of imparting education to the temples.

The elaborate arrangement made for the recitation and exposition of sacred texts in this temple helped the people to learn the texts by themselves. This served as a kind of informal education. In this way, this Adavalleswarar temple played the role of transmitting stations^[9] of knowledge. The symbolic representations of mythological stories in paintings and sculptures in this temple served as visual aids to the uneducated.^[10]

The mathas or seminaries, attached to some temples, were also the centre of high learning. They provided systematic framing in the sacred lore. Their members were austere ascetics who dedicated themselves for the pursuit of spiritual knowledge. Various endowments and proper care bestowed on these Salai reveal their importance. In these Salai discussions and discourses on different spiritual themes were conducted^103.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

S. Gurumoorthy, Education in South India, Madras, 1979, p.4.

[2]:

Ibid.,

[3]:

Unpublished Inscription. See Appendix No.1.

[4]:

K.K. Pillai, "The Temple as a cultural centre", Journal of Oriental Research, 1959-60, vol. XIX.

[5]:

Ibid., pp. 89-87.

[6]:

Ibid., pp. 89-90.

[7]:

Ibid., pp. 87-88.

[8]:

G. Sethuram, Op.Cit., p. 179.

[9]:

M.R. Raghava Variyar, “Temple Festivals in Medieval Kerala,” Journal of Kerals Studies, Vol. V, Part I, March 1975, p.63.

[10]:

Pillai, J.K. Educational System of Ancient Tamils, Madras, 1972, p.73.