Panangaateeswarar Temple, Panaiyapuram – Inscriptions
The temple has a number of inscriptions belonging to
Rajendra Chola I (regnal years 1012 CE to 1043 CE), his son, Rajendra Chola II,
Adhi Rajendra, Kulottunga I, Jatavaraman Sundara Pandya I and Vikrama Pandya
among others. Rajendra Chola's inscription called the deity Nethrodharaka Swami
(meaning, the main deity will cure eye ailments). The inscription recorded the
gift of land and money for worship and making offerings in the temple. It spoke
about Rajendra Chola's conquest of Kadaram. (The present-day Kedah in Malaysia
was called Kadaram and it belonged to Sri Vijaya kingdom). It revealed that the
Chola emperor rebuilt the main temple between 1025 CE and 1040 CE.
Another important aspect of the village is that it is also
named Paravaipuram. Paravai was the consort of Tamil Saivite saint Sundarar,
who lived in the eighth century CE. Paravai belonged to a family of dancing
girls and she is worshipped even today, along with Sundarar, in Siva temples.
Rajendra Chola I also had a personal assistant called Paravai, who was an
‘anukki.' This Paravai was named after Sundarar's consort. (Female personal
assistants, who were trusted by the kings, were called anukki and anukkan were
their male counterparts). Paravai built the Thyagaraja temple at Tiruvarur in
Tamil Nadu and covered the vimana with gold.
To honour her, Rajendra Chola I made her sit next to him
in his royal chariot and drove her in a procession on the four main streets around
the Thyagaraja temple. The Chola emperor made two bronze images resembling her
and placed them before the deity in the Tiruvarur temple's sanctum and
worshipped them. This is recorded in a long inscription in the Tiruvarur
temple. Rajendra Chola I re-built the Panaiyapuram temple in Paravai's honour,
when she was alive and the town around the temple was named after her.
The temple has two inscriptions of Rajendra Chola II
(regnal years 1052 to 1064 CE), both datable to 1058 CE. One of the
inscriptions mentions his gift of paddy to “Paravai Easwara Udaiyar Mahadeva in
the town of Paravaipuram in Panaiyur Nadu”, falling under the larger division
called “Rajendra Chola Valanadu.” The temple has an inscription of Adhi
Rajendra, who ruled from 1068 to 1071 CE. This inscription, dated 1070 CE,
records the gift of tax-free land to the temple by a merchants' guild of
Paravaipuram to feed the pilgrims.
There is a record of Kulottunga Chola I (regnal years
1070-1122 CE) on the gift of gold coins by a chieftain named Ponnambala Kizhan
of Arumbakkam, near present-day Chennai, for lighting a perpetual lamp. In the
inscriptions, available at this temple is noted as Tiruppuravaar
Panangaatutaiyaar Temple and the Lord’s name is inscribed as
Tiruppanangaatutaiya Mahadevar.
