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No. 30-SRIRANGAM INSCRIPTION OF RAJARAJA II, YEAR 11
K. G. KRISHNAN, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 4.3.1958) The subjoined inscription' is engraved to the right of the Svargavāśal on the south wall of the fourth präkära in the Ranganāthasvimin temple at Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli District, Madras State. The language as well as the script of the inscription is Tamil and it is engraved in characters of the 12th century A.D.
The record registers the gift of a golden lamp-stand with a ruby set in it to the god Ranganātha and a sum of 681 achchu for lighting the lamp on all the days of the year. The gift was made by Ködai Ravipanman, one of the Vērättadigal' of Malainādu in the 11th year of the reign of Ko-Parakõsarivarman alias Tribhuvanachakravarttigal Rājarājadēva. The record begins with the Meykkirtti: Pu-ntaruviya tirumādum, etc., and hence the ruler is to be identified with the second king of the said name in the Chola dynasty. The details of the date, viž., 11th year, Mirichchika (Vrischika) su. 5, Monday, Tiruvõņam, regularly correspond to November 19, 1156 A.D. The text of the inscription is drafted in the form of an undertaking given by the representatives of the administrative bodies of the temple such as Srīvaishnava-vāriyam, Srībhandāra-vāriyam, Por-pandārigal, Kangāniéeyvār (supervisors) and the temple accountant. It is stated that, having taken charge of tKe lamp and having deposited the money in the temple treasury (Srībhandāram), they would arrange for lighting the lamp on all the 365 days of the year with the interest accruing to the money deposited.
The inscription is important because it gives an earlier date for the donor, Kodai Ravivarman, who was a king of Vēnadu and is known from some inscriptions from the Travancore region." The date of our inscription would be equivalent to year 332 of the Kollam era, in which the Travancore records are usually dated. There is, however, no dated record from Travancore mentioning the reigning king between Kollam 325 and 336 thus leaving a gap of about 12 years in the history of Vēņādu. On the former date the reigning king was Kõdai Keralavarman and it seems to be the latest date available for him. On the latter date, Vira Ravivarman Tiruvadi is stated to have been ruling Vēņādu. Of the name Vira Ravivarman Tiruvadi, Vira Ravivarman is the name and Tiruvadi a well-known designation adopted by the kings of Vēņādu. The expression Vênāttadigal used in our record enables us to identify the donor Kodai Ravivarman with Vira Ravivarman Tiruvadi of Vēnādu due to the proximity of the dates. The locative suffix il in the expression Vēnāttadigalil can only indicate that there was at least one other member of the family with a title to the throne. On the date of this record, Kõdai Ravivarman was perhaps the crown-prince while Kõdai Kēralavarman or another person not known to us was the ruling king. The institution of the office of the crown-prince is indicated in the inscriptions of Travancore as ilarigúru vălunnaruluginra. The name Kodai Ravivarman suggests that he may have been related to Kodai Kēralavarman. It is likely that Vira-Ravivarman Tiruvadi identified with Ködai Ravi
1 A. R. Ep. No. 68 of 1936-37. + See note 3 below. *TAS, Vol. IV, p. 21, No. 6.
Ibid., Vol. VII, p. 7, No. 4. The opposite year to Kollam 336 is a mistake and hence the correct date would be Kollam 338. The corresponding date as pointed out by Mr. A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar would be Saturday, April 29, 1161 A.D.
Ibid., Vol. V, p. 78, text line 1. Could it be that the titles Vira and Tiruvadi were not applied to Kodai Ravivarman because he was only a crown-prince and that the record under publication pertains to grant made to a temple lying in the territories of the Cholas !
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