Jain Journal 1986 07

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 17

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It is evident from this record that the Malainatha temple was previously called Kattampalli and the mandapa in the same complex as Otturaikkummandapa, wherefrom Jaina principles had been preached to the laity. Arambanandi should have been the Jaina preceptor who tought Jaina philosophy to the people. The epithet 'nandi' suffixed to his name indicates that he belonged to the Nandigana. Singapuranadu is an administrative division, comprising more or less the present Gingee taluk, as is attested to by several other inscriptions.3
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Provision had been made by the donor to burn a perpetual lamp in the mandapa, but the nature of the gift is not known to us, as the last part of the inscription is mutilated. The donor hailed from Puttambur in Tenkaraikulamangalanadu, a sub-division of Colanadu. Puttambur is a hamlet in the Arantangi taluk of Pudukkottai district.
It is reported that a Jaina image found in Puttambur had been worshipped by the local people as a village deity without knowing its affiliation to the Jaina sect. The sub-division Tenkaraikulamangalanadu is also in the Arantangai taluk but divided into South Kulamangalam and North Kulamangalam by a rivulet known as Villuni aru,5 and probably the inscription refers to the southern part.
Regarding the identification of the king, the epigraphist could not attribute specifically to any Cola king as it contains only the title, Rajakesarivarman. The titles Rajakesarivarman and Parakesarivarman were borne by rulers of the Cola dynasty alternatively along with their coronation name. Inscriptions prior to Rajaraja I generally bear only the titles of the kings. In the present record, besides the title Rajakesari, his regnal year 17 is also mentioned. The only Rajakesarivarman who ruled for over seventeen years before Rajaraja I was Aditya I (A.D. 871-907), in which case the date of the epigraph falls in the year 888 A.D.
Kadavarkonpavai's Inscription:
The inscription engraved on the base of the sculptured panel in the Malainatha temple records that Kadavarkonpavai, queen of a Cola king, revived and perpetuated some endowment in the Jaina temple
3 ARE., 360/1909, 221 & 231/1904, 241/1927-28, 520/1937-38, 83/1934-35. 4 Mailai Seeni Venkatasamy, Samanamum Tamilum (in Tamil), p. 136.
5 R. Ponnusamy, Tananmainattuvaralaru (in Tamil), p. 7ff.
However, while chronologically arranging the inscriptions, the epigraphist had placed this record before Rajaraja I. See, SII, VII, Appendix A.