24 of 50

Kaakka Thoppu and Kondi Thoppu
24 of 50 !

As an immigrant to chennai when i was a young dreamy eyed youngster, i had the great honour of knowing locations named Kaaka Thoppu and Kondi Thoppu. Thoppu in Tamil means verdant field and Kaakaa is crow..so one could at least fill the gap and pat one self.

But what on earth is Kondi Thoppu ? And india being a country of myriad languages and dialects it makes it tough for even the creator of the street name to remember after a hiatus...

Thiruvarur which had the distinction of having been the birth place of Mumoorthiys of CM also has the largest Ther (Wooden chariot to carry the Lord) in the country. Procession of Ther is a feast for the eyes especially during Brahmotsavam

Its the name of the family of Deva Dasis (Rudra Ganikaigal - ) which had the unique privileges starting from Cholas Rule in South india and particularly at Tyagesas Temple at Thiruvarur . Thiruvarur Kamalam from the Kondi LIneage was a contemporary of Dikshatar and became his disciple.
The Varnam in Thodi by Dikshatar was composed for Kamalam

rUpamu jUci (pv). rAgA: tODi. Adi tALA. Composer: Muttusvami Dikshitar.

P: rUpamu jUci valaci vaccitini kOpamu sEturA sAmi inta kOpamu sEturA
A: tApatraya haruDai velayu shrI tyAgarAjasAmi idEmi nI
C: mArakOTi sundarAkAra

Tiruvarur Kamalam financially helped Dikshatar during his indignant times and danced to his Krithis. The descendants of the house of Kondi have contributed in sharing far and near Dikshatars brilliance.

Dikshatars composition Sri Thiyagarajasya Bhaktho in the raga Rudra Priya makes prominent reference to the Deva Dasis of the temple : Vimala Rudra GAnika Narthana Vinoda bheda (pleased by beautiful Devadasis and their novel dances.) as is His norm in capturing the rituals of the Temples he wrote songs on . There is a kondi street and kondi thoppu in Thiruvarur even today but its a mystery of its existence in chennai
This note gives us a warm up to know about another format of CM which is Javali ! More on its way..

I finally found out that Kondi in archaic Telugu means Adamant and about other illustrious members of the family we will visit their stories if this project doesnt hit 50 !

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