<!-- See WikiProject Indian cities
for details -->Sivagiri
is a panchayat town
in Tirunelveli district
in the Indian state
of Tamil Nadu
.It was one of the Palayams in Ancient Madurai.Sivagiri is traditionally recognized as one of the 72 palayams of Madura.
was located in the Sankarankovil
taluk of Tirunelveli, on the slopes of the Western Ghats.
Sivagiri's polegar, known as the Varaguna, belonged to the vanniyar caste. The founder of the family is Jayatunga Varaguna Rama Pandyan Vanniyadi, who held the estate of Tiruppuvanam and Piranmalai under the Pandyan kings of Madura. Putrasampattu Vanniyadi, at a later time, defeated the Chola king and was given kavali rights over 108 villages. Succeeding members of the family added to the estate. They were originally established in Sundankulam, and later at Thenmalai (20 miles to the west), and fin ally, circa 1733-34, in Sivagiri.
The polygar of Sivagiri bore a personal animosity to the Puli Thevar
of Nerkkatumseval and refrained from joining the coalition he put together to fight the Anglo-Nawabi forces in 1754. *In 1757, he joined forces with Yusuf Khan, the nawab military commander, against the Puli Thevar.
- When Kollamkondan again rebelled in 1764, following the execution of Yusuf Khan for having betrayed the nawab, Sivagiri was quick to join.
- Victories over the Anglo-Nawabi forces helped the revolt spread to other...