 In September 1998, Rajinikanth announced his next project, titled "Padayappa", with K. S. Ravikumar as director.The story of this film was taken in part from the historical Tamil novel, "Ponniyin Selvan", by Kalki Krishnamurthy.The title "Padayappa" is a corruption of Aarupadayappa a sobriquet for Murugan and his six abodes.