THE CHOLAS

state of the country prior to the firm establishment of the Chōḷa rule under Parāntaka I.

Āditya II Karikāla
  13. Āditya II Karikāla under the surname ‘ Parakēsari who took the head of Vīra-Pāṇḍya’ is represented by 4 inscriptions from Kāppalūr, all of them dated in the 5th year of his reign (Nos. 247. 248, 266 and 267). Nos. 248 and 267 record endowments made, one to the Śiva temple called Śrīkāmainakkar and the other to that of Vishṇu known as Kaliyāditta-Viṇṇagardēvar by Tiruvaḍigal Pirīdirāma-Śeṭṭi, son of Pārthivaśēkharan of Kōliyakkuḍi, a merchant of Kōmal in Śōṇāḍu, The name of the Vishṇu temple indicates that it owes its origin to Āditya-Karikāla. The third inscription (No. 247) also records a gift to the Śiva temple by a merchant of Tañjāvūr named Aiyāran Nūrreṇmak-Kavara Śeṭṭi, son of Māyilaṭṭi, while the 4th mentions a certain Tirumalaiyaraiyan, son of Pūdānai, a manṛāḍi residing at Koḍuvākkuṭṭai in Koḍuvāykkuṭṭai-nāḍu. This village may be identified with the present Kaḍavāykōṭṭai in the Arantangi. taluk of the Tanjore distrcit.

Uttama-Chōḷa.
   14. Of Uttama-Chōḷa there is an inscription from Śrīraṅgam (No. 65) which makes provision for ghee and camphor (Bhīmasēni-karpūram) for a lamp in the temple. The practice of burning lamps with ghee in which camphor is dissolved, is still in vogue at Tiruvaṇṇāmalai in the North Arcot distrcit.

Rajaraja I.
  15. Of Rājarāja I there are 5 inscriptions in the collection. Of these, No. 276 from Kāppalūr (North Arcot distrcit) records in 3 Sanskrit verses the construction of a channel after the king’s name from the northern bank of the river Dūranadi up to the great tank at Kāmappullūr under orders of king Mummaḍi- Chōḷa by his minister Korramaṅgalaṅkilān. Another inscription (No. 290) from Kalaśapākkam close by records the endowment of a thousand kuli of land for the maintenance of two persons singing of Tiruppadiyam (Dēvāram) during the three services in the temple of Tiruvachchiruppākkattālvār at Vaśugūr by an officer called Sundaraśōla-Mūvēndavēḷān. The 3rd (No. 265) inscription (from Kāppalūr) is dated in his 21st year and records an endowment of land to the temple of Kaliyāditta-Viṇṇagarālvār (see para. 13 above) by a member of the āḷuṅgaṇa of the village named Abhyaṇḍi Rishīkēśava (Hṛishīkēśa)-Kramavittan.

Rājēndra-Chōḷa.
   16.Rajēndrachōḷadēva is represented by 4 inscriptions of which three are dated. The earliest of these (No. 273) is dated in the 2nd year of his reign and comes from Kāppalūr which is surnamed Rājachūḷāmaṇi-chaturvēdimaṅgalam and is stated to be situated in Maṇḍaikula-nāḍu, while in earlier inscriptions of the same place it is said to belong to Palkunra-kōṭṭam, in Vaśugūr-nāḍu. In another inscription of the same king at Kāppalūr (No. 262) this Maṇḍaikuḷanāḍu is said to have formed the southern division of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu in Jayaṅ-koṇḍaśōla-maṇḍalam, Rājachūḷāmani is a well-known surname of Rājaraja.

Rajadhiraja I.
   17. Of his successor Rājādhirāja I, there are 2 inscriptions, one from Kalaśapākkam in the North Arcot distrcit (No. 291) and the other from Śri vāñjiyam in the Tanjore distrcit (No. 234), both dated in the 33rd year of his reign. The former records an endowment of land by the Nānādēśis ( merchant guild) for feeding people during the annual festival in the temple in the Maṇḍapas called ‘ Nānādēśīyan-śāḷai’ and ‘ Aiññūrruvan-ambalam’. The other inscription is found near a sluice at Śrīvāñjiyam and records the remission of taxes by the assembly of Abhimānabhūshaṇa-chaturvēdimaṅgalam in Tirunaraivūr- nāḍu on a land endowed by Brammagal, wife of the Commander Rājēndrasōḷa- Brahmamārāyar, to a Vishṇu temple probably built by her. This Tirunaraiyūrbeing in the present Kumbakonam taluk, the village Abhimānabhūshaṇa-chaturvēdimaṅgalam might be located there. This village is mentioned in the Larger Leiden Plates of Rājarāja I with its other name Tuṅgamaṅgalam (Ep. Ind., Vol. XXII, p. 236).

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