No. 231.

(A. R. No. 431 of 1921).

Tiruvennainallur, Tirukkoyilur Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the west wall of the mandapa containing the somaskanda images in the Kripapurisvara temple.

This inscription, also of the 27th year, records the gift of a pair of silver trumpets called ‘Pichchanenru-padachchonnan’ weighing 55 kalanju and a gold anklet weighing 2 kalanju to the god Atkondadeva at Tiruvennainallur by the Madhyastha Udaiyan Sri-Kaylaymudaiyan of Senji.

The astronomical details given are regular for A.D. 1268, March 28, Wednesday; but this date falls in the 25th year of the chief. In the 27th year i.e., A.D. 1270, the nearest equivalent is April 6, but the weekday is Sunday, not Wednesday as cited in the record.

The name ‘Pichchanenru-padachchonnan’ has reference to the god at this place and to the tradition that saint Sundara was directed by the god to address him as ‘Pittan i.e., Pichchan.’

No. 232.

(A. R. No. 498 of 1921).

On the north wall of the mandapa in front of the central

shrine in the vaikuntha-Perumal temple in the same village.

This is also dated in the 27th year and it records a gift of 4 cows to supply monthly 1 nali of ghee by the measure Arumolideva-nali for burning a twilight lamp in the temple of Sri-Vaiku(nda)nthadeva at Tiruvennainallur, by Perungakon Sivanandan, a shepherd residing at Kayirurpattu.

No. 233.

(A. R. No. 85 of 1931-32).

Tiruvayppadi, Kumbakonam Taluk, Tanjore District.

On the east wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the Kshirapurisvara temple.

This inscription dated in the 29th year, is one of the few records of the chief found in the Tanjore district. It registers an order of the mulaparushai of Senalur in Milalai-nadu, a subdivision of Virudarajabhayankara-valanadu, to include as urkil-iraiyili two veli of land belonging to the temple of the god at Tiruvappadi. The necessary alternations consequent on this decision were also ordered to be made in the colugo register.

The astronomical details given point to December 19, Saturday, A.D. 1271, as the date of the record.

No. 234.

(A. R. No. 154 of 1906).

Elavanasur, Tirukkoyilur Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the west wall of the second prakra of the Gramardhanathesvara temple.

In the present inscription, it is stated that a gift made in the 2nd year was engraved on stone in the 30th year of the chief. It records a gift of 1 veli of land in Mambattur, free of taxes, for providing worship and offerings in the temple of Urbagankondaruliya-Mahadeva at Iraiyanaraiyur alias Solakerala-chaturvedimangalam, a brahmadeya in Paranur-kurram, a subdivision of Maladu alias Jananatha-valanadu, by Vanakovaraiyar Vannenja-Nayanar. The document is attested by the Kelvi-mudali Singalarayar, Ra[ja]virarayar and Rajendrasola-Brahmarayar and by Viluppadarayar, the engraver of royal records.

The donor, who belongs to Aragalur, had already figured in the 11th year of Kopperunjingadeva. The village Mambattu is identical with Mambalappattu in the Villupuram taluk and close to Tirukkoyilur. According to the astronomical details given, the date of the record is A.D. 1272, October 10, Monday.

No. 235.

(A. R. No. 159 of 1906).

On the same wall.

This is similar to the above inscription and it is also dated in the 30th year. It registers a gift of 1 veli of land in Puttendal-kalani situated in Mambattur made in the 3rd year, to the same god and for the same purpose by Ponparappina Vanakovaraiyar. Among the Kelvi-mudalias, Singalarayar, Madhurantaka-Brahmarayar and Kurukularayar, attested the record. Ponparappinavelar, the officer who drafted orders also attested the document.

The donor mentioned in this inscription was a chief of Aragalur, a town in the present Attur taluk of the Salem district. His ancestors served the Chola king Kulotltunga-Chola III from about A.D. 1182[2]. Ponparappinan is a family title referring to the gilding of the central shrine of the Arunachalesvara temple at Tiruvannamalai.

The astronomical details given here are the same as those in the previous inscription.

No. 236.

(A. R. No. 291 of 1919).

Avur, Tiruvannamalai Taluk, North Arcot District.

On the east wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the ruined Siva temple.

This is an incomplete inscription dated in the 30th year[3] of the chief. It appears to record the setting up of the image of Astradeva during the administration of Surandar alias Jeyasevakan-Chediyarayar in the temple of Tiruvagattisvaramudaiya-Nayanar at Avur in Chedi-mandalam ‘on the northern bank of the river Pennai’, by the merchants of the Eighteen Divisions, who are introduced with a number of epithets. In other inscriptions this body of merchants is called Tisai-ayirattu-Ainnurruvar[4]. From the mistakes in the text, the inscription appears to have been engraved by a person not conversant with the matter of the record.

Astradeva is a deified weapon, which is usually taken out in advance of the processional image during festival days.

The astronomical details in the inscription point to A.D. 1272, September 29, Thursday as its date.

No. 237.

(A. R. No. 221 of 1930-31).

Manamadi, Chingleput Taluk and District.

On the south wall of the central shrine in the Tirukkarisvara temple.

This record of the 31st year registers a gift of cattle for maintaining a twilight lamp in the temple of Tirukkarapuramudaiya-Nayanar at Vanavanmadevi-chaturvedimangalam, by Sivadasan Ishabavaganadevan (Rishabhavahanadevan) Tiruvegambamudaiyan, the accountant of the village and his brother Alavanda-Pillai. The devakanmis of the temple took charge of the cows and agreed to maintain the lamp.

No. 238.

(A. R. No. 148 of 1932-33).

Tirukkalukkunram, Chingleput Taluk and District.

On the south wall of the first prakara (outside) of the Bhaktavatsalesvara temple.

In this record of the 31st year, the first stone containing the beginning of lines is lost. Some of the inscribed stones are also misplaced, thus indicating the renovation of the wall in later times. The inscription registers the agreement made by Sampatidevan alias Idaikkadadevan to supply ghee for a perpetual lamp to the god [Ti]rukkalukkunramudaiya-Nayanar, in return for the sheep, cows and lands obtained formerly as endowment, from several persons, by his father Idaikkadadevan.

The astronomical details given point to A.D. 1273, November 6, Monday as the date of the record.

No. 239.

(A. R. No. 95 of 1934-35).

Vriddhachalam, Vriddhachalam Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the east wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the Vriddhagirisvara temple.

This inscription, also engraved in the 31st year, registers a gift of 32 cows and 1 bull by Amudandai alias Valuvarayar, son of Ainjadaperumal alias Gangayarayar, one of the officers of the household (utkottu-mudali) of the chief, for a perpetual lamp to the god at Tirumudukunram in Paruvur-kurram, a subdivision of Merka-nadu Irungolappadi-nadu in Virudarajabhayankara-valanadu ‘on the north bank’.

The details of date given in the record correspond to A.D. 1274, March 4, Sunday.

No. 240.

(A. R. No. 290 of 1919).

Avur Tiruvannamalai Taluk, North Arcot District.

On the south wall of the central shrine in the ruined Siva temple.

This is a fragmentary record dated in the 32nd year of the chief. It registers some provision made to the god Tiruvagattisuramudaiya-Nayanar for the welfare of Vanniyanar alias Manabharana-Chediyarayar.

The astronomical details given in the inscription are not regular. Su. Prathama and nakshatra Ardra cannot combine in the month of Mesha.

No. 241.

(A. R. No. 300 of 1919).

On the south wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine of the same temple.

This inscription of the 32nd year records a gift of land by Vanniyanayan Chedirayan to Bharadvaji Va[ra*]ntandan devan, a Brahmana of the village, for supplying on festival days, sandal paste, scented powder and incense for the sacred bath of the god Tiruvagattisuramudaiya-Nayanar at Avur.

The details of date given in the record are not regular. The intended date is probably A.D. 1274, April 8, Sunday.

No. 242.

(A. R. No. 500 of 1921).

Tiruvennainallur, Tirukkoyilur Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the north wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the Vaikuntha-Perumal temple.

In this incomplete record of the 32nd year, it is stated that Tiruvaykkulattuppillai of Milalai residing at Tiruvennainallur made provision for the supply of 1 nali of ghee (daily) by the standard measure Arumolidevan for burning a sacred lamp before the image of Tiruppanalvar one of the twelve Vaishnava saints, which he had set up in the temple of Sri-Vaikuntattemperuman at Tiruvennainallur.

No. 243.

(A. R. No. 160 of 1932-33).

Tirukkalunkkunram, Chingleput Taluk, Chingleput District.

On the south wall of the second prakara in the Bhaktavatsalesvara temple.

This is an incomplete inscription dated in the 34th year. It records an endowment made to the god Tirukkalukkunramudaiya-Nayanar on the hill at Tirukkalukkunram in Kalattur-kottam, a district of Ja[ya*]ngondasola-mandalam by Ra[ja*]ra[ja*]k-Kadakkankondar Meyyabarani. This lady is stated to have been the wife of Rajarajak-Kada[kka*]nkondar in another inscription from the same village.[5]

According to the astronomical details given, the date of the record is A.D. 1277, May 20, Thursday.

No. 244.

(A. R. No. 370 of 1908).

Neyvanai, Tirukkoyilur Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the north wall of the central shrine in the Svarnaghatsvara temple.

This is an incomplete inscription dated in the 36th year of the chief. It records an undertaking given by the Sivabrahmanas of the temple of Porkudankuduttaruliya-Nayanar at Tirunelvanai, to provide offerings to the god during the festival in the month of Chittirai, in lieu of the interest calculated at 3 kuruni per kalam, on 30 kalam of paddy received from Arasan Tiruttonda-Nambi, a devarkanmi having rights in the temples at Tiruvannamalai and Tirukkovalur.

No. 245.

(A. R. No. 104 of 1934-35).

Chidambaram, Chidambaram Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the west wall of the second prakara in the Nataraja temple.

This inscription, dated in the 36th year, registers an order of the officer Venadudaiyan to the authorities of the temple at Chidambaram, to engrave an inscription on the ‘Vikkiramasolan-tirumaligai’, close to the record pertaining to Brahmanas of Irumarabuntuyya-Perumal-chaturvedimangalam, a hamlet of Korrangudi. The inscription now ordered to be engraved records grant of exemption from payment of taxes on 10 veli of land[6] purchased and presented by a certain Alagiya Tiruvaiyarudaiyar belonging to the ‘Tirunavukkarasu-Tentirumadam’ situated in the street ‘Ambalanayaka-perunteruvu’, to certain Brahmans whom he settled in the agrahara called Tillainayaka-chaturvedimangalam and for offerings to the image of the god Kulottungasola-Vinayakappillaiyar set up by him at the mugakkattanam on the east side of the temple. The Brahmans had to recite the Vedas on important occasions such as when the processional image was taken out in procession in car and during the sacred bath of the deity in temple and also to chant benedictory verses when it halted in the garden ‘Kulottungasolan-tiruttoppu’.

No. 246.

(A. R. No. 191 of 1904).

Tiruvakkarai, Villupuram Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the south base of the 1000-pillar mandapa

inside the second prakara of the Chandramaulisvara temple.

This present inscription which is not dated gives the surnames Kadavan Avaniyalappirandan, Sarvanjan, Khadgamalla[7], and Kripanamalla to Kopperunjinga II. It records that the chief constructed a sluice, with a feeder-channel, to the tank at Olugarai. In the Sanskrit version appended to the epigraph the channel is stated to have been named ‘Tribhuvananripanatha.’ The village Olugarai is in French India about 2 miles from Pondicherry. It was also known as Kulottungasolanallur (A. R. No. 175 of 1904), evidently after Kulottunga-Chola I.

No. 247.

(A. R. No. 198 of 1905).

Tripurantakam, Markapur Taluk, Kurnool District.

On the north wall of the kitchen in the Tripurantakesvara temple.

This is a Grantha inscription praising the greatness of Maharajasimha, i.e., Kopperunjinga (II), son of Jiyamahipati by his wife Silavati. Jiyamahipati is the same as the Tamil Siyan in the name Alagiya-Siyan. No donation to the local temple is recorded in this inscription, but its eulogistic character is emphasized by engraving a Nagari[8] and Telugu[9] version of it in the same temple. The chief is called an ornament of the Kathaka race, Avanyavanasambhavah, Sarvanjna, Khadgamalla, Nissankamalla[10] etc., He claims to have ‘destroyed the pride of the Karnata king’ and to have been a ‘Sun to the lotus tank of the Chola family’. He was a devotee at the feet of the god at Chidambaram, where he built the eastern gopura[11] resembling Mount Meru from the riches obtained by the conquest of his enemies and called it after his own name. The decorations on the four sides of this gopura are said to have been made with the booty acquired by subduing the four quarters and from riches used in his tularohana-ceremony. The inscription also refers to the gifts made by the chief to the temples, among others, at Draksharama, Ekamra (Conjeeveram), Virattanam, Svetajambu (Jambukesvram), Madura[12] and Kalahasti. His inscriptions are not, however, found in the last mentioned three places; but they are found at Tirupati close to Kalahasti wherein he is styled ‘Kanchi-Nayaka.’

His Draksharama inscription is dated in Saka 1184 (A. D 1262) and since his gift at this place is referred to in the present record, the latter has to be placed after that date, if not at a later time in the very same year.

Two important statements made in this inscription establish Kopperunjinga’s relationship with the Cholas and the Pandyas. He claims to have elevated in the south a Chola prince ‘who was shuddering with fear’ (1. 9). The Chola prince referred to was evidently Rajendra-Chola III who must have received assistance from the Kadava chief, probably against Rajaraja III. He also calls himself a sutradhara in the installation (sthapana) of the Pandyaraya. This suggests that Kopperunjinga should have proceeded to the north as an advance-guard of the Pandya ruler Jatavarman Sundara-Pandya I.

No. 248.

(A. R. No. 358 of 1909).

Tayanur, Tirukkoyilur Taluk, South Arcot District.

On the south wall of the ruined Siva temple.

The date of this inscription of Sakalabhuvanachakravartin Avanialappirandan Kopperunjingadeva is lost. It records a gift of 4 cows by Mangalankilan Devadidevan Malaiyan of Tayanur for burning a twilight lamp in the temple of Kanakkamalai Audiaya-Nayanar. The village Tayanur may be identified with one of the two villages of the name in the Tirukkoyilur taluk.

No. 249.

(A. R. No. 321 of 1913).

Chidambaram, Chidambaram Taluk, South Arcot District.

On a pillar at the western entrance into the second prakara of the Nataraja temple.

The present inscription states that the pillar (tirunilaikal) on which it is engraved was the gift of Perumalpillai alias Solakonar, an officer (mudali) of Avanialappirandan Kopperunjinga, on behalf of his master.

No. 250.

(A. R. No. 324 of 1913).

In the same temple.

On the door post of a new entrance close to the outer east gopura of the same temple.

Same as No. 249 above.

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