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No. 22-TWO INSCRIPTIONS OF PARANTAKA, YEAR 9
(1 Plate) K. A. NILAKANTA SASTRI AND T. N. SUBRAMANIAM, MADRAS
There are three Tamil inscriptions of Parāntakadēva, all dated in the 9th year of his reign, which 'pose one of the minor problems in Chola history. Of these, the text of the one found at Tiruvālañgādu in the Chittoor District of the Andhra State has already been published. The other two inscriptions, one from Köyil-Tēvarāyan-pāțțai in the Tanjavur District (referred to in the sequel as A)' and the other from Tiruvadatturai in the South Arcot District (marked B in the sequel), both in the Madras State, are now published from the inked impressions kindly placed at our disposal by the Government Epigraphist for India.
Inscription A is found engraved on the south wall of the central shrine of the Matsyapurīśvara temple at Köyil-Tēvarāyan-pēttai which is included in the present village of Pandāravādai, a Railway station in the Papanasam Taluk, Tanjavur District. It is called TiruchchĒyalūror Tiruchchēlūr in inscriptions and is said to be included in Rāja kēsari-chaturvēdimangalam, a brahmadeya on the southern bank of the river Kāvēri. This Chaturvēdimangalam was evidently founded by the Chola king Aditya I, after whom it was named and one of its hamlets was known as Panditavatsalachchēri after one of the surnames of his son Parāntaka I.
The other record B is found on the south wall of the mandapa in front of the central shrine in the Tirthapurībvara temple at Tiruvadatturai, a village about four miles from Peņņāgadam, on the north bank of the river Vellāru. This place is connected with the life of the Saivite saint Tirujñānasambandha. The story is that it was at this place that, when he, as a tender child, was no longer in a position to continue his journey either on foot or on the shoulders of his aged father, the god miraculously intervened to offer him a palanquin and an umbrella, both made of pearls. This tradition finds support in the inscriptions wherein the god of this place is called Tirumuttin sivigai kuduttaruliya Nāyaṇār. In inscriptions as well as in the hymns of the Tēvāram, this village is known as Tiruvarattusai-Nelvāyil to differentiate it from other places bearing the name of Arattusai.
The two inscriptions are in the Tamil language and script with an admixture of Grantha letters here and there, and palaeographically they may be assigned to circa 1100 A.D.
The only orthographical peculiarity that deserves notice here is the use of double chch in Tiruchchēlür in line 10. In the conjunct letter chche, the doubled consonant is written after the vowel sign of ē. The letters n and n are used quite indifferently. The rules of sandhi have not been properly observed.
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1K. A. X. Sastri, The Colas, Vol. I, p. 165, note. 4. R. Ep. 1896, No. 16: SU, Vol. V. No. 879.
. R. Ep. 1923, No. 261. • Ibid., 1928-29, No. 225. - Ibid., 1923, No. 276.
Ibid., No. 264. · Periyapuranam, Tirujnanasambandhamurti sui migal puranam,vv. 185-214. • A. R. Ep., 1928-29, No. 215.
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