Tamil Nadu: 13th century AD Pandya-era inscription found painted over

CHENNAI: A 13th century AD Pandya-era Tamil

inscription

recording the donation given to the Manikkavasagar temple in Tiruvannamalai was found under thick coats of paint on the eastern wall of the temple.


Although the inscription begins with “Swasthasri Tribhuvana Chakravarti” and is said to be written during the reign of Sundara Pandian, it is not clear in the epitaph which of the later Pandyas is referred to here.

The inscription gives information about making cultivable lands in Nelvai region (probably a small village near Peranamallur) as tax free and donating them to the deities. One half to Thiruperunthurai Udaiya Nayanar and another half to Thiruvathavoor Nayanar by Sree Vikrama Chozha Thevar and Saethi Mandalathu Naatar Sabai,” said Raj Panneer Selvam, president of the Tiruvannamalai Heritage Foundation, who found the inscriptions while exploring ancient temples in Tiruvannamalai. The Avudaiyar temple deity is called Thiruperunthurai Udaiya Nayanar.

Senior archaeologist Rajagopal Subbiah, who deciphered the inscriptions said, based on the inscriptions, the donation might have been made by Maravarman Sundara Pandian II, the brother of the Sadaiyavarman Kulasekara Pandian II with whom he co-ruled the region between 1238AD and1240AD. “Since the inscription states the donation given in the second year of Sundara Pandian, the period of the inscription can be taken as 1240AD,” he said Even though the temple, where the 9th century poet Manickavasagar first recited his poetry ‘Tiruvembavai’, is famous, the inscriptions have been found with recent additions of symbols of ‘Om’ and ‘Swastika’ on the painted eastern wall of the temple. “The inscriptions are covered under a thick coat of paint. It shows nobody is aware of their significance,” said Raj Panneer Selvam. “It is high time the state government took an initiative to preserve ancient inscriptions like this,” Subbiah said.