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No. 10.)
TINNEVELLY INSCRIPTION OF MARAVARMAN SUNDARA-PANDYAI. 53
off and cut to pieces the horses, elephants, chariots and the fighting proud infantry. (A seeing this), he (the Chöļa king), bis two eyes becoming dim, fell down on the ground and fled (from the field), his body quaking with fear. The fierce kite ate the dead bodies of the mandalikas (lying stretched like) the noisy ocean, the water of which the clouds were imbibing.' Tho chiefs of heroes cut off the white tusks and trunks of elephants in the field thinking they would serve as milk-pots to their king Miņavan (i.e., the Pandya). Finishing the conquest, the king made the following invocation to the goddess "Let her who wears the arkka garland and huge trident, who has white teeth, red mouth and fearful black locks, who is ever pleased at seeing the dances and hearing the sounds and songs of ... under the canopy of crows which touching the top of the sky, reaches the very region of the clouds, receive this war-oblation".
(LI. 16-20.)-The victor, whose anger was not abated by killing kings that had not given up impermissible excesses, who for keeping up the life of his long sword gave it the water of red blood and made it shine (forth), who sowed white seeds of kavadi in the field of battle, who made his vassais hear the parani composed to celebrate all his heroic deeds, who made the earth cool with the water of his sacred bath, who, taking from his harem a multitude of wedded queens whose constancy to bim (ever) remained un-impaired, and puiting them on elephants' back, fastened to them fillets of gems, crowned and embraced them to his breast. Celebrated damsels like the prime queen of Valavan bearing bangles bolding in their jewelled hands the eight kinds of signs such as pots filled with water which the poets describe as auspicious, he entered the pavilion at Mudikondasolapuram surrounded with towers whose tops were fitted with flags, set up golden pillars of victory in all the directions and put on the heroes' ankle-rings linked with the ornament of foot-chain, his feet being worshipped by northern kings holding shining javelins and wearing vāyai-garlands. King Māravarman alias the glorious Sundara-Pāņdyadēva, the emperor of the three worlds, after taking the Chola country and performing the anointment of heroes at Mudikondasőlapuram, was pleased to be Heated on the lion-throne ornamented with lustrous gems, attended with the waving of lusty fly-whisks on either side, along with Ulagamulududaiyāl who was praised by damsels wearing kuļai® and who never part from the jewelled shoulders of northern kings having armies of fine fat elephants sounding like the roaring of the ocean
(LI. 20—28.)-In the 20th year and 374th day of the reign of the king) when he was pleased to remain on the reclining seat of Malavarāyan in the hall of the bed-chamber of (his) palace at Tirunelvēli in Kil-Vēmba-nādu, the dēvakanmis wearing silk garments and observing five-fold precepts, attached to the feet of the god in the temple of Udaiyar-Tirunelvēli-udaiyar having orally expressed that, for meeting the daily scale of expenses of Sokkaņār which Sankaran Alagiyaperumā? alias Maļavarāyan of Kālaời had worshipped and had subsequently been pleased to set up as an asrayalinga in this temple and for offerings and unguents required during the special worship to be conducted on the day of his natal star Sadaiyam, one and a half vēli of first rate land as measured by the rod used in this village for determining taxes, from out of
Comparison is intended between the cloud and the kite as well as the ocean and the dead bodies..
* Parani is a poetical composition in praise of a chief who, at the head of battle, has killed 1.000 elephants. Many such pieces are referred to in the historical introductions of Tami) kings and these have not come down to us.
Provisionally, I have taken the word tipaikkattanam to mean a harem. The word urimai is used in the sense of 'wife, queen'.
These marks are :-chamara (Aly-whisk), pürna-kumbha (pot filled with water), looking glass, torti (elephant. gond), murala (drum), lamp, flag and double fish.
• Kulai means an ear ornament.
