A forgotten page from Tamil History: True story of a Temple-dancer
Yesterday was Tamil New Year. To honour the Tamil tradition, let us remember the pious temple-dancer, whom we have almost forgotten.--------------
It was 1323.
Srirangam was attacked by the Delhi Sultanate forces during the Tamil month of Vaikasi. Nearly twelve thousand residents of Srirangam had laid down their lives fighting to protect the temple. The Sultanate forces attacked the sacred temple and Lord Ranganatha's jewels and the temple gold were taken away. The forces also wanted to seize the deity of Lord Vishnu. They searched for the deity, but the Vaishnavite Acharya, Pillailokacharya had taken the deity away and fled to Madurai. It was later returned in 1371.
Unable to locate the deity, the Sultanate forces killed the temple authorities and later launched a massive hunt for Pillailokacharya and Namperumal.
Fearing that the Sultanate barbarian forces would capture the Acharya and the idol, Vellayi, a temple dancer, performed a dance before the commander of the forces, to gain time for Pillailokacharya to escape with the image. Her dance lasted for hours, and finally, she took the commander to the eastern gopuram and pushed him down. After killing him, Vellayi herself jumped to death from the tower of the eastern entrance, chanting the name of Ranganathar.
Hailing Vellayi's sacrifice, the chief of the Vijayanagara forces, Kempanna, who drove away the Sultanate forces, named the tower after her. The gopuram continues to be painted white in her memory and is now called Vellai Gopuram.
Let us not forget the sacrifice of this pious lady for the sake of Sanatan Dharma. Those who are planning to eradicate Sanatan Dharma, may not have heard the story.