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South
Indian Inscriptions |
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THE CHOLAS
an inscription from Śrīvāñjiyam (No. 229), dated in the 25th year of the king,
wherein the image of saint Śīruraittār, i.e., Māṇikkavāchagar is also mentioned.
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Suḍikkuḍottāḷ.
21. The name of Āṇḍāḷ, known also as Kōdai and Śūḍikkoḍutta-Nāchchiyār,
canonized as a Vaishṇava saint, is intimately connected with Śrīraṅgam where
A flower-garden called after Saint she is stated to have attained divine
union with god Raṅganātha of the place.
A separate shrine dedicated to her in the
west side of the sixth prākāra of the Raṅganātha temple is said to mark the
spot of her first half when she came to Śrīraṅgam as the bride-elect with her
father Vishṇuchitta. An inscription of Kulōttuṅga dated in the 9th year
(No. 119) from the place, records an endowment for the formation of a flower-
garden called ‘ Śūḍikkuḍuttāḷ’ after this lady-saint, to provide for the supply
of a garland to the god on some specified occasions. Garlands from this garden
would seem to have special significance as, according to tradition, god
Raṅganātha is said to have given preference to the garlands previously worn
by Kōdai who, on this account, came to be known as Ś ūḍikkoḍuttāḷ, i.e., ‘ She
who wore and offered ‘ (to god Raṅganātha).
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Poet Sakalavidyachakravartti.
22. Of literary importance are two inscriptions (Nos. 207 and 208) secured
from Tiruveḷḷarai in the Trichinopoly distrcit, which are dated in the 31st and
35th years of Tribhuvanavīradēva, i.e., Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III and mention one
Sakalavidyāchakravarttin, distinguished by the titles of Kavirāja and Tri-
bhuvanakavi-chakravarttin. He was a Vājapēyayājin and a native of Madhurānta-
kachaturvēdi-maṅgalam. His full name is given in the inscription as Tiruttērponmēynda-perumāḷ Kaṛpakavilli-Vājapēyayājī. He is further distinguished as the headman of Ālambākkam ‘ on the northern bank’. The
epithet ‘ Tiruttēr-ponmēynda-perumāḷ’ was evidently assumed by this poet in
deference to his patron the Bāṇa chief Ponmēynda-permāḷ Magadaipperumāḷ
of Āragaḷūr whose panegyrics engraved in several temples are said to have been
the composition of this ‘ Kavichakravartti’, for which he is stated to have been
honoured with gifts of elephants (No. 371 of 1925). The present inscriptions
record endowments of 5,000 and 15,240 kāśu respectively by this scholar for
feeding persons, more than a thousand in number, who offered their services
during the festivals in the temple in the Karpakavilli-maṭha. Karpakavilli’s
greatness as a poet is indicated by his attribute ‘ Kavichakravartti’ which
according to Rājaśēkhara’s Kāvyamīmāṁsa was considered a higher title than
‘Mahākavi’, We know of some poets bearing the surname ‘ Vidyāchakravartti’ who flourished in the Hoysaḷa court. In the time of Ballāḷa II, there
was a poet of this title and his grandson, also a ‘ Vidyāchakravartti’, the contemporary of Sōmēśvara was the author of Gadyakarṇāmṛita. The latter’s
grandson with the same surname was a protégé of Ballāḷa III and the author
of Rukmiṇīkalyāṇa, in the introduction to which are given some details about
the Hoysaḷa kings and of this family. The scholar mentioned in the two inscriptions of the present collection seems to have been identical with the first ‘Vidyā-
chakravartti’ who should have originally enjoyed the patronage of Ballāḷa II
and thereafter attached himself to the Bāṇa chief Magadaipperumāḷ whose
title Ponmēynda-perumāḷ was also subsequently added to the scholar’s name.
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A settlement of boundary between two temple lands
23. The erosion of the river Koḷḷiḍam (Coleroon) into the lands belonging
to the temples of Śrīraṅgam and Tiruvānaikkā and the consequent necessity
A settlement of boundary between two for the resettlement of their boundary, is
mentioned in a long record engraved in
the Raṅganātha temple at Śrīraṅgam
(No. 113). This inscription records the order of the king, evidently Kulōttuṅga-Chōḷa III issued in the 20th year on the 213th day, through the officer Gāṅgēyarāyar of Aṇṇavāyil. The king commissioned his puravu-vari-kūśeyuvār and
puravu-vari-nāyakañcheyvār officers to settle the boundary, who, in consultation
with the representatives of both the temples, representatives from the sabhā
accountants of the two villages and the superintendents of both the temples,
adjudged their award by taking into account the holding of the two temples
as they were before the erosion in the 19th year of the king, and the actual
enjoyment-rights of both the parties and by suggesting suitable exchange of
lands in some cases. This award satisfied both the parties and they demarcated
their respective portions by planting boundary-stone with the mark of tiruvāli(chakra) and sula.
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