No. 12 to 14 west & south wall of the same mandapa

No. 1 to 4 north & west wall of the same shrine

No. 5 to 8 south wall of the same shrine

No. 9 to 11 north wall of the mandapa

 

No. 12.- On the west wall of the mandapa

This inscription is dated in the 37^th year of the reign of “Parakesarivarman, the conqueror of Madirai (Madhura),” i.e., of the Chola king Parantaka I.,[1] who reigned from about A.D. 900 to 940.[2]  It records that the villagers granted to the temple the village of Sidiyambakkam, which was situated to the north of their own village.  Sodiyambakkam[3] still bears the same name and lies 3¼ miles north of Ukkal.

In the preceding inscription (No. 11, 1. 7), which belongs to the 16^th year of Parakesarivarman, Sodiyambakkam is designated as ‘a village (belonging to) this god,’ i.e., to the Vishnu temple at Ukkal.  At first sight it might be concluded from this that No. 11 is of later date than No. 12, and consequently, Parakesarivarman one of the successors of Parantaka I.  On the other hand, it is but natural to assume that Parantaka I. prefixed the title Madirai-konda to his name parakesarivarman, in order to distinguish it from earlier Chola kings named Parakesarivarman, and that any Parakesarivarman who succeeded Parantaka I. would have followed the example of the latter and adopted a similar distinguishing epithet.  Hence I believe that the inscriptions of Parakesarivarman.

(Line 1.) Hail ! Prosperity ! In the thirty-seventh year (of the reign) of king Parakesarivarman who conquered Madirai, - we, the assembly of Sivachulamanimangalam, alias Sri-Vikramabharana-chaturvedimangalam, (a village) in its own subdivision of Kaliyur-kottam, (ordered as follows) : -

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(L. 2.) To the god of the Puvanimanikka-Vishnugriham in our village shall belong, as a divine gift (deva-bhoga), the village called Sodiyambakkam, a hamlet (pidagai) to the north of our village,- including the great flower-garden which belonged to this (temple) previously,- the site of the village,[4] the tank, the wet land, and dry land, and everything within (its) limits, on which the iguana runs and the tortoise crawls,[5] for the worshippers of the god of his Puvanimanikka-Vishnugriham, for the requirements of the worship, for oblations (tiruvamridu) at the three times (of the day),[6] for two perpetual lamps, for rows of lamps at twilight, for festivals, for the bathing (of the idol) at solstices, equinoxes and eclipses, for offerings (sribali), (for) supplies[7] to the store-room[8] of the temple, and for all other purposes.

(L. 7.) We shall not be entitled to levy any kind of tax from this village.  We, (the great men) elected for the year, we, (the great men) elected for (the supervision of) the tank, and we, (the great men) elected for (the supervision of) gardens, shall not be entitled to claim, at the order of the assembly, forced labour (vetti),[9] vedi[lai] and valakkanam from the inhabitants settled in this village.

(L. 9.) (If) a crime (or) sin becomes public, the god (i.e., the temple authorities) alone shall punish the inhabitants of this village (for it).  Having agreed (thus), we, the assembly, engraved (this) on stone.[10]

(L. 10.) If we utter the untruth that this not (as stated above), in order to injure (the charity), we shall incur (all) the sins committed between the Ganga and Kumari.  We, the assembly, agree to pay a fine of one hundred and eight kanam per day, if we fail in this through indifference[11] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(L. 11.) Having been present in this assembly, I, the arbitrator of this village, [Po]r-rikkuri Brahmapriyan, wrote (this) at the order of the assembly.

No. 13.- On the south wall of the mandapa

This inscription is dated in the 17^th year of the reign of the ancient Chola king Rajakesarivarman.  It was meant to record some decision of the village assembly, but was left unfinished for unknown reasons.

Hail ! Prosperity ! On the 122^nd day of the 17^th year (of the reign) of king Rajakesarivarman,- we, the great assembly of Sri-Vikramabharana-chaturvedimangalam,-including the great men elected for this year, the great Bhattas elected for (the supervision of) the tank, and (all other) distinguished men,- being assembled on this day in the Puvanimanikka-Vishnugriham in our village . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

No. 14.- On the south wall of the mandapa

This inscription is dated in the 4^th year of the reign of “Parakesarivarman who deprived Vira-Pandya of his head.”[12]  This king may be identified with Aditya II. surnamed Karikala, the elder brother of Rajaraja I., who, according to the large Leyden grant (I. 58), “as a boy, played sportively in battle with Vira-Pandya.”

The inscription records that a cultivator named Senai granted one patti[13] of land, from the proceeds of which water and fire-pans[14] had to be supplied to a mandapa frequented by Brahmanas.

(Line 1.) Hail ! Prosperity ! In the fourth year (of the reign) of king Parakesarivarman who deprived Vira-Pandya of (his) head, - Senai, (who was) the son of the cultivator (Vellalan) Si[kk]ar-udaiyan Puliyan (and) who resided at Sivachulamanimangalam, alias Sri-Vikramabharana-chaturvedimangalam, (a village) in its own subdivision of Kaliyur-kottam, assigned (one) patti of land in the neighbourhood, to last as long as the moon and the sun, for his own merit (and) for the meritorious purpose of supplying to the Brahmasthana in this village water during six months and fire-pans (aganishtha) during six months and of constructing a water-lever in front of the cistern at the mandapa.[15]

(L. 3.) The great men who manage the affairs of the village in each year, shall supervise this charity.  Those who cause obstruction to this, shall incur (all) the sins committed between the Ganga and Kanya.[16] Under these conditions, I, Senai, assigned (the land). He who obstructs this, shall be liable to pay a fine of twenty-five kalanju of gold.