Kalyanasundaresar Temple, Nallur – History
The 7th century Nayanar saints Sambandar and Appar wrote of the temple in their poetic work, Tevaram.
The original masonry and towers date back to the 9th century CE, as seen from
an inscription in the structure made by Chola kings. The Chola kings ruled over the region for
more than four centuries, from 850 CE to 1280 CE, and were temple patrons.
The
temple complex dates from the time of the 10th century AD Medieval
Chola king Uttama
Chola whose inscriptions
are found in its walls. An inscription dated to the fifteenth year of Raja
Raja Chola makes a reference to
"Panchavanmahadevi chaturvedimangalam", which is another name for
Nallur.
There are also inscription by Later
Chola kings and by Hoysala monarchs. The inscriptions from the Chola kings
record various gifts like land, sheep, cow and oil to the temple commemorating
various victories of the dynasty. There are lots of inscriptions from the Sangama
Dynasty (1336–1485 CE), Saluva
Dynasty, and Tuluva
Dynasty (1491–1570 CE) of
the Vijayanagara Empire, reflecting gifts to the temple from their rulers.
The majority of the gift related inscriptions are for land endowments, followed
by goods, cash endowments, cows and oil for lighting lamps. The temple has been
maintained by the Tiruvaduthurai Adheenam from the early part of the 13th century.