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No. 15.)
TIRUVELLARAI INSCRIPTION OF DANTIVARMAN.
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touches the consonant that follows it. One graphic peculiarity of the record is that the loops of and are fully developed and the consonant rai resembles to a great extent the letter ņa. The pulli (or virdma) is invariably marked by a slightly curved line cut on the top of the letters. It is wrongly marked on pe in perusginaru (1. 2, section 1) and on me in vaimminey (end of 1.2, section 2). The Sanskrit words and letters that occur in the inscriptiou are : svasts and fri at the beginning of the record, Bhäradvaja-götra, Dantivarmnu aud Pallant tilatakulörbhava in line 1; ratshi of ratshippar in line 2 and śri at the commencement of the Tamil verse in section 2, line 1.
The object of the inscription is to record the construction of the well called Märppiduguperunginaru by one Kamban-Araiyan, the younger brother of a certain Visaiyanallūlān of Ālambakkam. The work was commenced in the 4th year of Dantiverman, who belonged to the Pallavatilata (tilaka) family which is said to have sprung from the Bhäradvāja-gotra, and completed in his 5th year. The capacity of the well accounts for the time taken in its construction. There are four entrances leading into the well and they are so constructed as to give it the shape of the svastika symbol ! The Tamil verse in section 2 is written in the Asiriyaviruttam metre, each line containing six feet (sir). It declares that no object in this world is permanent, that life is sure to decay, and that, therefore, if one commands wealth, he mast, after taking what is required for his maintenance, utilise the remainder in doing works of charity.
An inscription dated in the 8th year (=A.D. 1262-3) of the Hoysala king ViraRāmanāthadēva found on the margin of the same well records that a merchant (viniyan) repaired it as it had suffered considerable damage from flouds and other causes. The same record refers to the well as having been built by a merchant. In the 13th century A.D. the builder of the well was believed to have been a private individual and not a chief, as the title Araiyan appended to his name would lead one to believe. It is also interesting to learn that repairs were executed to it in A.D. 1262. It was perhaps then that the inscribed stones got out of order.
The proper names that occur in this record are of special interest. Alambākkam may be identified with the village of the same name situated at a distance of 12 miles from Lälgadi on the road to Ariyalür. Dantivarmamangalam and Madhurantaka-chaturvēdimangalam were its other names in ancient times, and it was situated in Poygai-nadu which was & Aubdivision of Rajëndrasingavalanadu.Tiruvellarai is said to have been a village in Vadavalinādu, a district of Räjäsraya-vaļanādu. The members of the village assembly of Tiruvellarai are referred to in two records of the Chola king Räjarija I. found in the Rajarājēśvara
From each of the entrances, a flight of steps leads to the interior of the well. Midway between the entrance and the bottom of the well, on what may be described as the portal, is a piece of sculpture which was, in all probability, carved at the time when the well was constructed and hence synchronous with it. There are thus four groups of sculptures in all, on the four sides. The principal figures on the northern side are Siva and Parvati seated on pedestal with attendant deities, flanked on either side by & nandi. A number of female figures, probably the saptamatris, are found on the southern side. With an attendant deity on the right side, the god Yoga-Narasimha is Bured on the eastern side in a sitting posture with loga folded and crossed and with something like a cloth passing round them. This group is flanked on the left by a lion while to the right is a yali. I am not able to identify the images on the western side. Here are the figures of warrior arted with a sword, a horsu sud a few other images,
No. 542 of the Epigraphical collection for 1905 and Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1905-08, p. 63, pars
grapb 4
In spite of this belief it is not impossible that the builder Kambap-Arsiyaŋ was a chief who belonged to the Mattaraiyan family.
• Annual Report on Epigraphy for 1909-10, Part II., paragraphe 14 and 25.
South-Ind. Incora. Vol. II. Part III. p. 388.
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