1,100-yr Chola stone inscription found

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1,100-year-old Chola stone inscription found

 

A 1,100-year-old stone inscription of the Parantaka Chola period has

been

 

discovered at a Siva temple at Ezhuchur, near Padappai, in

Sriperumbudur taluk of Kancheepuram district, 56 km from Chennai .

The inscription, datable to 920 A.D., is in Tamil. It was found in

the door jamb of the temple which is called Nal-Inakkisvarar (Deity

of Good Harmony). The temple is in a highly dilapidated condition

now.

 

According to Dr. T. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist,

Archaeological Survey of India (Chennai Circle), the inscription

records the gift of solid gold by the local headman called Nocci

Kilan Kaliya Peruman of the village named Velima Nallur of Velima

Nallur-Nadu.

 

The inscription says that Nocci Kilan Kaliya Peruman gave the gold

(``pon'' in Tamil) to ``nattar'' to build (``thali'') the temple. The

Nattar formed the administrative body of Velima Nallur-Nadu. A

``nadu'' was a geographical division. From the inscription, it was

inferred that the present village Ezhuchur was called Velima Nallur

in those days and it served as the headquarters of the Nadu of the

same name.

 

Dr. S. Rajavelu, Epigraphist, ASI, said the inscription is datable to

the reign of Koparakesari Panmar, identified on palaeographical

grounds with Parantaka Chola-I. The inscription is dated to his 13th

regnal year, which corresponds to 920 A.D.

 

Interestingly, the inscription says that if the ``nattar'' failed to

construct the temple, they should pay a certain amount of gold

(``manchadi pon'') as fine to the then king. The inscription reveals

that Velima Nallur-Nadu came under ``Uttrukkadu Kottam''. A

``kottam'' was a bigger geographical division than ``nadu.''

 

According to Dr. Rajavelu, ``nattar'' were ``vellalars''

(agriculturists). Most of them owned vast lands. Another inscription

too was found as a door jamb in the same temple but its letters have

faded out.

 

According to K. Krishnakumar, who belongs to Ezhuchur and is trying

to rebuild the ruined Nal-Inakkisvarar temple, there was a copper

epigraph which said that King Narasimha of Vijayanagara gifted

Ezhuchur village in 1429 A.D. to the 54th Sankaracharya of Kanchi

Kamakoti Peetam, Sri Mahadeva Saraswati. The inscription was in

Nandinagari characters and was composed in Sanskrit. The donee Swami

is described as one seeking ``moksha'' (liberation), as one whose

body is smeared with ``bhasma'' (holy ash), adorned with garlands of

``rudraksha'' and so on.

 

This copper inscription said that King Veeranarasimha, seated on a

jewelled throne on the banks of the Tungabhadra river, gifted

Ezhuchur and Venpakakam to Sri Mahadeva Saraswati. Several sarcophagi

had been found at Ezhuchur, testifying that it had an ancient

history, said Krishnakumar.

 

The Padappai region, where Ezhuchur is situated, lay on the highway

leading from Kancheepuram to the eastern coast in those days of the

early/Imperial Cholas and the Pallavas. That area was then studded

with many temples and Brahmanical settlements, Dr. Satyamurthy said.

These temples, belonging to the early Chola period or the Pallavas,

are found at Manimangalam, Mattur, Eraiyur, Vallam and so on.

 

The Manimangalam area was important because the early Cholas were

penetrating deep into the Thondaimandalam (Coromandel) at that time.

The Vallam village near Padappai has a Siva temple, originally

belonging to the Pallava period, which was evidenced on the basis of

a sculptural representation of Somaskanda, the favourite deity of the

Pallavas.

 

Manimangalam, near Ezhuchur, is historically important in another

sense. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, in his book ``A History of South India

(From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar)'', says, ``The

Chalukya King Pulakesin's ambition prompted him to undertake another

expedition against the Pallavas in the hope of achieving more

decisive results. Mahendravarman quit the stage and his son Narasimma

Varman-I Mahamallan (630 - 68) had begun his rule ... But Narasimha

Varman defeated the Chalukyas in several battles, including the one

at Manimangalam, about 20 miles to the east of Kancheepuram.''

 

THE HINDU