Captain James Cook’s Men Got Blind In This Forest Of Kerala : Thillai Vanam – The Ancient Legacy of Chidambaram | Thillai Forest
Chidambaram was known as Thillai vanam because there was a forest full of a type of Thillai tree. This medicinal thillai tree is the main tree of Chidambaram Nataraja temple . The town got its name as Thillai because of the dense growth of thillai trees in Chidambaram area. Later this town Sidd-Ambaram became Maruvi Chidambaram. Sidh means knowledge and Ambaram means clearing. History says that eventually the town of Thillai was ruined.