Tundaka-vishya(i.e., the Tondai-mandalam), attacked at the head of a battle and put to flight the Pallava, called Nandipotavarman, who had come to meet him, took possession of the musical instrument (called) “harsh-sounding” and of the excellent musical instrument called “roar of the sea,” of the banner (marked with Siva’s) club, of many renowned and excellent elephants, and of a heap of rubies, which drove away darkness by the light of the multitude of their rays, and entered (the city of) Kanchi,-which seemed to be the handsome girdle (kanchi) of the nymph of the southern region,-without destroying it.  Having made the twice-born, the distressed and the helpless rejoice by continental gifts, having acquired great merit by granting heaps of gold to (the temple) of stone (called) Rajasimhesvara, which Narasimhapotavarman had caused to be built, and to other temples, and having burnt by the unimpeded progress of his power the Pandya, Chola, Kerala Kalabhra and other princes, he placed a pillar of victory (jayastambha), which consisted (as it were) of the mass of his fame that was as pure as the bright moon in autumn, on the Southern Ocean, which was called Ghurnamanarnas (i.e., that whose waves are rolling) and whose shore glittered with the rays of the pearls, which had dropped from the shells, that were beaten and split by the trunks of the frightened elephants (of his enemies), which resembles sea-monsters.”

That Vikramaditya II. really entered Kanchi and visited the Rajasimhesvara Temple, is proved by much obliterated Kanarese inscription in the KailasanathaTemple at Kanchipuram.  This inscription is engraved on the back of a pillar in the mandapa in front of the Rajasimhesvara Shirne, close to the east wall of that mandapa, which at a later time was erected between the front mandapa and Rajasimhesvara.  It begins with the name of “Vikramaditya Satyasraya Sri-Prithivi-vallabha, the king of great kings, the supreme ruler, the lord” and mentions the temple of Rajasimhesvara.

I now return to the Kuram plates.  The three last of them contain the grant proper, and record in Sanskrit and Tamil, that Paramesvara (i.e., Paramesvaravarman I.) gave away the village of Paramesvara-mangalam,-which was evidently names after the king himself,-in twenty-five parts.  Of these, three were enjoyed by two Brahmanas, Anantasivacharya and Phullasarma, who performed the divine rites and looked after repairs of the Siva temple at Kuram,  which was called Vidyavinita-Pallava-Paramesvara, and which had been built by Vijayavinitha-Pallava, probably a relative of the king.  The fourth part was set aside for the cost of providing water and fire for the mandapa at Kuram, and the fifth for reciting the Bharata in this mandapa.  The remaining twenty parts were given to twenty Chaturvedins.

At the time of the grant, the village of Kuram belonged to the nadu (country) or, in Sanskirt, manyavantara-rashtra of Nirvelur, a division of Urrukkattukkottam (lines 49 and 57 f.), and the village of Paramesvaramangalam belonged to the Panma-nadu or Patma-manyavantara-rashtra, a division of Manyirkottam (lines 53 and 71).  As, in numerous Tamil inscriptions, “panma” corresponds to the Sanskrit ,-the form Panma-nadu, which occurs also in No.86, might mean the country of the Varmas, i.e., of the Pallavas, whose names end in varman, the nominative case of which is varma.  There is, however, a possibility of “panma” being a mistake for, and “panma” a Tamil form of, Padma, one of the names of the goddess Lakshmi.  With Manayirkottam compare Manavirkottam in No.86 and Eyirkottam in No.88. Possibly Manavirkottam is a mere corruption of Manayirkottam, and Manayil stands for Man-eyil, “mud-fort” which might be a fuller form of Eyil, a village in the South Arcot District, which seems to have given its name to Eyirkottam.

In conclusion, an important paleographical peculiarity of the Tamil portion of the Kuram plates has to be noted.  The pulli, which corresponds to the Nagari virana, occurs frequently, though not regularly, in combination with seven letters of the Tamil alphabet. In the case of five of these (ing, im, il, il, in) it is represented by a short vertical stroke over the letter, as in the inscription No.82, above.  In the case of the two other (inth and ir) it has a similar shape, but is placed behind the letter and at an angle with it, in such a way that the lower part is nearer to the letter than the upper one.

TRANSLATION

A. Sanskrit portion.

Hail! (Verse 1.) May (Siva) protect us, who has five faces (and) fifteen fearful eyes, who bears the moon on his crest, who wears the trident, whose sacred thread is a terrible serpent, who possesses ten strong arms, who is to be respected by Mukunda (Vishnu) and the other immortals, who produces the creation, who is propitiated by spells, the creator, (who is) knowledge incarnate, who performs perfect self-restraint, and whose form is the universe!

(Verse 2.) Victorious is that Paramesvara (Siva), who consists of the three Vedas, the crest-jewel of the three worlds, who places in the hearts of beings the power which effects actions, the moon of the highest sky, the succession of whose particles (causes) a multitude of products, and whose rays crystallize, when they fall, as on a moon-stone, on the mind of the learned!

(Verse 3.) May that race of the Pallavas ,-in which we hear no prince was (ever) born, who was not pious, who did not perform the sona sacrifice, who raised the club of war unjustly, who was a sham saint, who did not perform heroic deeds (only for the sake of) liberality, whose tongue was so false as to speak an untruth, or who was alarmed in battles,-be unobstructed in protecting earth, which is free from calamities!

(Line 9.) From Brahman (sprang) Angiras; from him, Brihaspati; from him, Bharadvaja; from him, Drona; from him, Pallava, who drove away (every) jot of a calamity from his race; from him, the race of the Pallavas, the favourites of the whole world.

(Verse 4.) May that Pallava race last (for ever), in which we have heard no prince was (ever) born, who was not pious, who was not liberal, (or) who was not brave![4]

(Line 12.). The grandson of Narasimhavarman, (who arose) from the kings of this race, just as the moon and the sun from the eastern mountain; who was the crest-jewel on the head of those princes, who had never bowed their heads (before); who proved a lion to the elephant-herd of hostile kings; who appeared to be blessed Narasimha himself, who had come down (to earth) in the shape of a prince; who repeatedly defeated the Cholas, Keralas, Kalabhras, and Pandyas; who, like Sahasrabahu (i.e.,the thousand-armed Kartavirya), enjoyed theaction fo a thousand arms in hundreds of fights; who wrote the (three) syllables of (the word) vijaya (i.e., victory), as on a plate, on Pulakesin’s back, which was caused to be visible (i.e.,whom he caused to turn his back) in the battlesof Pariyala, Manimangala, Suramara, etc., and who destroyed (the city of) Vatapi, just as the pitcher-born (Agastya) (the demon) Vatapi;-

(Line 17.) The son of mahendravarman, by whom prosperity was thoroughly produced (su-rachita), just as prosperity is heaped on the gods (sura-chita) by Mahendra; and who thoroughly enforced the sacred law of the castes and the orders;-

(Line 19.) (was) Paramesvaravarman, whose beauty (darsana) surpassed (that of) all (others), just as Paramesvara (Siva) has (one) eye (darsana) more than all (others) ; who, like Bharata, was a conqueror of all; who avoided improper conduct (asamanjasa), just as Sagara abandoned (his son) Asmanjasa[5];who possessed a strongbody (anga) just a Karna was (king) of the prosperous Angas; who was fond of poems (kavya), just as Yayati of (his father-in-law) Kavya (Usanas); whose command always caused pain to haughty kings, like a chaplet (forcibly placed on their heads),[6] but gave splendour to the faces of friends by reaching their ears, like an ear-ring; who was constantly clever in the sport of the fine arts (kala), (just as) the moon is charming in the beauty of her digits (kala);(who resembled) the string of pearls (muktaguna) on the breast of Cupid, but who, at the same time, avoided unlawful (intercourse) with women (even) by thought.[7]

(Line 23.) At the head of a battle,-in which the disk of the sun was caused to assume the likeness of the circle of the moon through the mist of the dust, that was produced by the marching of countless troops of men, horses and elephants, which was terrible through the thunder-like sound of drums, which teemed with unsheathed swords that resembled flashes of lightning, in which elephants were moving like clouds, and which (therefore) resembled an unseasonable appearance of the rainy season ; in which tall horses looked like billows, in which elephants caused distress on their path, just as sea-monsters produce whirlpools, in which conches were incessantly blown (or cast up), and which (therefore) resembled the gaping ocean; which was full of swords and shields (avarana), just as of rhinoceroses, creepers and varana (trees), which was crowded with heroes who possessed bows and mighty elephants, as if it were crowded with sara (grass) and with asana,naga, tilaka and pumnaga (trees),  in which confused noises were raised, and which (therefore) appeared to be a forest; which was agitated by a violent wind, (but) in whch the path of the wind was obstructed by arrows, that flew past each other on the bows (themselves), while these were bent by the warriors; in which javelins, pikes, darts, clubs, lances, spears and discuses were flying about ; in which troops of furious elephants firmly impaled each other’s faces with the piercing thunderbolts of their tusks; in which squadrons of horsemen were connected by their swords, that had struck each other’s heads; in which there were soldiers who were noted (for their dexterity) in fighting with sword against sword, (pulling of) hair against (pulling of) hair, and club; in which the ground was thickly smeared with saffron, as the blood was mixed with the copious rutting-juice of elephants, that issued in consequence of (their) considering each other as equals (or) despising each other; in which (both) large armies had lost and dropped arms, necks, shanks, thigh-bones and teeth; in which, owing to the encounter of the armies, both sides were broken, urged on, put to flight and prostrated on the ground which was attended by the goddess of fortune, sitting on the swing of the doubt about mutual victory or defeat; in which brave warriors were marching on the back of lines of fallen elephants, that formed a bridge over the flood of blood; in which soldiers stood motionless,[8] if their blows did not hit each other’s weak parts; which was covered here and there with shattered banners and parasols, with fallen elephants and with dead and half-dead soldiers, who had done their duty, whose strong arms (still) raised the weapon, whose lips were bitten and whose eyes were deep-red with fury; in which a multitude of white chamaras was waving ; in which tiaras, armlets, necklaces, bracelets and ear-rings, were broken, crushed and pulverized; in which the Kushmandas, Rakshasas and Pisachas were singing, intoxicated with drinking the liquor of blood; and which contained hundreds of headless trunks, that were vehemently dancing together in a fearful manner according to the beaten time,-he, unaided, made Vikramaditya, whose army consisted of Several lakshas, take to flight, covered only by a rag.

(Verses 5 and 6.) He, having caused to be accoutred the elephant called Arivarana (i.e., ‘warding off enemies’), whose golden saddle was covered with the splendour of jewels, whose rut was perpetual, who (therefore) appeared to be the king of mountains himself whose torrents never cease to flow, and who was followed by thousands of (other) elephants,-and the horse called Atisaya (i.e, ‘eminence’), whose noble breed was manifest, and who wore a saddle (set with) jewels, together with lakshas of (other) horses, whose ears were covered with chamaras . . . . . [9]

(Line 49.) This Paramesvara gave to the blessed lord Pinakapani (Siva),-who had been placed in the temple of Vidyavinita-Pallava-Paramesvara in the midst of the village called Kura, which possessed one hundred and eight families that studied the four Vedas, (and which was situated) in the manyavantara-rashtra called Nirvelur, in the midst of Urrukkattukkotta, in order to provide for the worship, the bathing (of the idol), flowers, perfumes, incense, lamps, oblations (havir-upahara-bali), conches drums, etc., and for water, fire and the recitation of the Bharata  at this (temple),-the village called Paramesvara-mangala in the manyavantara-rashtra called Patma, in the midst of Manayi[r]kotta, as a divine gift (and) as a gift to Brahmanas, at the request of  Vidyavinita, the lord of the Pallavas, with exemption from all taxes. The executor (ajnapati) of this (grant was) Mahasenadatta (of) Uttarakaranika. And for (performing) the divine rites and the repairs of this temple of Vidyavinitha-Pallava-Paramesvara,-Anatasiva-acharya, the son of Kuratt-acharya, was given(!), and secondly Phullasarman; (their) sons and grandsons were (also) appointed.

B. Tamil portion.

(Line 57.) (At) Kuram and Nammanambakkam. . . . . . . in Nirvellur-nadu,(a division) of Urrukkattukottam,-Vidyavinitha, the Pallava king, bought one thousand and two hundred Kuris of land, for which he paid the price in gold.  (Other) land was purchased, in order to burn tiles for building a temple.  After the patti of Sulaimedu within Talaippadagam and five and a quarter pattis of land in the village, together with the land on which the mandapa was built, were bought; after the temple of Vidyavinita-Pallava-Paramesvara was built; after the tank was dug; and after houses and house-gardens were allotted to those, who had to perform the worship at this temple,-the land, which remained, was to be cultivated for (providing) the customary offerings.  The eastern boundary of this land is to the west of the road to the burning-ground; the southern boundary is to the north of the road, which leads in to the village; the western boundary is to the east of the road, which leads to the district-channel (?) (and which is) on the north of the road, which leads into the village; the northern boundary is to the south of the district-channel.  After the land included within these four boundaries,-with the exception of the temple, the tank, and the houses and house-gardens for those, who had to perform the worship,-and the patti of  Sulaimedu had been given as land to be cultivated for (providing) the customary offerings,-the whole land round the tank(?) in (the village of) :Paramesvaramangalam in Panma-nadu,(a division) of Manayirkottam, (was divided) into twenty-five parts (and set aside) for performing the divine rites and the repairs necessary for this temple, and in order to grant a brahmadeya to twenty chaturvedins. Of these, three parts shall be (for) performing the divine rites and the repairs of the temple at Kuram;one part shall be for water and fire for the mandapa at Kuram; one part shall be for to twenty Chaturvedins. (The donees) shall enjoy the houses and house-gardens of this village, the village-property(?), the oil-mills, the looms, the bazar, the brokerage, the kattikkanam (?) and all other common (property), after (the proceeds) have been divided in the proportion of these twenty-five parts.  The dry land (?) (along) the Perumbidugu channel, which was dug from the Palaru[10] to the tank of Paramesvara at this village, (and) all the land, in which . . . . . . .channels (from) fountains were dug, (shall be) the land of Paramesvaramangalam . . . .  . . .  .

(Line 83.) Of the three parts, which were given, Anantasiva-acharya and his sons and further descendants (shall enjoy) one and a half part . . . . . . . .

(Line 86.) Phullasarman and his sons and further descendants. . . . . . .

[Lines 89 to 95 contain fragments of five Sanskrit verses, in the first of which the inscription is called a prasasti[11]or eulogy; the remaining four were, as usual, imprecatory verses.]

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