U. V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942 CE), a Shaiva Hindu and Tamil scholar, rediscovered the palm-leaf manuscripts of the original epic poem, along with those of the Sangam literature, in Hindu monasteries near Kumbakonam. These manuscripts were preserved and copied in temples and monasteries over the centuries, as palm-leaf manuscripts degrade in the tropical climate. This rediscovery in the second half of the 19th-century and the consequent publication brought Cilappatikaram to readers and scholars outside the temples.