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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XV.
probably, therefore, Itti-Kkombi is the name of the then head of this branch. The second name is one of the Tamil-Sanskrit epithets of Siva. It means the bright God" and may refer to the god Visvanātha of the temple. Or it may specifically refer to the deity in the temple of Chokkanathapuram in Palghat, which is a village about 14 miles distant from Kalpatti. If so, that temple would be earlier than that of Visvanatha-Svåmin at Kalpatti. I see nothing impossible in this, as Chokkanāthaparam is one of the oldest villages constituting Palghat town and was once in a much more flourishing condition than now. Emir Bhagavati is the name of the goddess of whom we have a temple at Kalliankulam near Palghat, about a mile from the Olvakot Railway junction. There is another temple of the same goddess at Sēkharipuram, & village half a mile from Kalpātti. The former place is held very sacred by the Palghat Rājās, who consider the goddess to be their tutelary deity.
The name of the donor is not given in the inscription. He may have been an elderly member of the Palghat Rājā's family, judging from the references to Itti-Kkombi as marumakan and to mela karanavar. The latter epithet may refer to the Räjä himself.
The inscription contains expressions which art of considerable importance and interest on historical, ethnological and philological grounds. I may now proceed to discuss the meaning of these terms.
Mana (1. 1) means a house in modern Tamil and Canarese, and 'premises of a house in Malayalam. Bat in the latter language the term is used to denote only the stately residence of a large Nambūdri Brahman landlord. The smaller landlords of the same community (Malayāli Brahmans of Malabar, known as Nambūdris) have their houses designated by the word illam. It is interesting to observe that in Malabar there are appropriate technical terms to denote the residence of particular caste. The Räjä has his kovilagam,' the Nair his vidu, the carpenter his pura, the tenant farmer (I!uva or Moppila) his kudi, the servile cultivator his chala. The inscription represents the manas receiving 1320 panams (coins) and bound to give 132 panams every year as interest to the temple. Mana therefore must refer to the Tamilian Brahman houses of Kalpătti, which are situated around and in front of the temple.
Palikappanam (1. 4) means 'interest' in current Malayalam. The derivation is uncertain. In earlier Vatteluttu inscriptions the term used is the old Dravidian vad di or vandi, even in Malabar. The context here shows that a rate of 10 per cent. was charged as interest payable every year on the 10 panams given to each of the Brahman houses,
We have here a very interesting instance of the way in which endowments to temples were made and worked. A lump sum was invested with every householder, who was bound by the terms of the contract to pay the interest on that sum every year to the authorities of the temple on whose behalf the investment was made. The contract held good in perpetuity; but the obligation implied in it was not personal, but territorial. I know the details of the system, as it works in the adjoining villages. At Sekharipuram, for instance, every villager who owns a house is bound by custom to pay a panam annually to the temple. There is an old tradition there that a philanthropic individual who founded or re-organised the affairs of the temple gave ton panams to each of the menibers of the "Samūham of 240 (houses)." The village has at the present time only about half that number of houses; but on the outskirts there are the rains
Cf. Chokkappanai - the festive fire.'
* Probably the oldest of the Tamil Brahman villages in Palghat. The village bears the name of the Raja, who has the title śēkharivarman.
* E.g. Püpw!ki mana. • There are even now as many houses in old Kalpatti. The house of new Kalpatti were built later.
The copper-plate cited above, which belongs to 1148 A.D.
