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The social, religious and literar y background
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tolerance and co-existence except for the period during which the Jains were severly persecuted. The Cola kings in particular are known to have promoted and safeguarded the interests of non-Hindu communities. There was no distinction drawn between a Jaina village and an Agrahāra, where brahmins lived, and all privileges were given to a Jaina village. During this period Palliccandam lands (lands or village owned exclusively by the Jain and Buddhist religious institutions) were donated by the kings in great number. Even when transactions connected with the administrative authorities of the state were made, special care was taken to safeguard the privileges of these lands. For example, in the Udayendiram plates of Hastimalla records we can see that the Palsiccandam lands of Digambara Jains consisting of two paitis of land were excluded from the gift of the village of Kadaikkottur. This village was granted to the village of Udayendu chaturvēdimangalam by Sembiyan-Māvalivāparāya (i.e. the Ganga-Bāņa king Pịthivipati II) with the permission of his sovereign Parantaka I (A.D. 907-A.D. 955).1
..ip paricu nättaik kūtți nila națappittuk kallum kalliyu nāttip palam paliccantamāna viccātiri pattiyun tēvarpattiyumāna iv iranļu pattiyu nikki...2
(Having assembled accordingly (the inhabitants of) the district (nadu!, having caused (them) to walk over the boundaries of the (granted) land, having planted stones and milk bush (on the boundaries), having excluded the two Pattis called Vichchadiri Patti and Deyar Patti which had been formerly a Pallichchandam..)4
There is also evidence to show that Cola kings and queens built Jaina temples and donated land and wealth for their maintenance.5 Rājarāja I donated the village Anaimangalam to the Buddhist Vihāra called Chulamanivarma vihāra in Nāgapattanam, which was built by the chief of Kaļāram Chùamaņivatman and his son Māravijayotungavarman.
in writing this epic, as we will see in Chapter IV, Tēvár has followed the pattern set by similar pics in Sanskrit. This was facilitated by the popularity of Sanskrit in the conntry. The Pallava kings patronised Sanskrit scholars and poets in their court. We learn that the Pallava king Mahendravarman I (A.D. 580-A.D. 630) composed a delectable farce (prabasana ) Mattavilāsaprahasana in Sanskrit. The impact of Sanskrit on the social life and the culture of the Tamils persisted during the period of the Cola kings. Thus, in the Cola inscriptions also we find a large admixture of Sanskrit.
1 Nilakanta Sastri, op. cit. p. 209. 2 South Indian Inscriptions (S.1.1.) Vol. II, Part III, p. 386, Inscription No. 76. 3 Kalli. Euphorbia. 4 Translated by E. Hultzch, p. 387. 5 S.1.1. Vol. I, pp. 67, 68. 6 Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXII, No. 34, pp. 228, 229. 7 K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, op. cit. p. 171.
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