Ardhanareeswarar Temple, Elavanasur Kottai – Inscriptions
There are inscriptions of Rajaraja I and of Rajendra I,
but they are either fragmentary or later copies engraved on the walls of
the prakara of the temple; so, the temple seems to have undergone
renovation during the Later Chola period. The earliest is an inscription of the
seventh year of Rajaraja 1 found on a slab built into the floor at the entrance
to the temple. It refers to the,15th year of Uthama Chola, described
as the son of Sembiyan Mahadevi. His inscription of the 14th year
(copy) refers to the deity as Urbhagangondaruliya Nayanar. There are two of his
19th year and one of his 24th. There are inscriptions of
his son Rajendra I (fifth or 13th year-copies). The Lord is called Urudaiya
Paramasvamin in them.
There are a large number of inscriptions of the Later
Cholas. Of these, those of Kulottunga I, about eleven, range from his second to
his forty-eighth regnal year. His tenth-year record gives us Urudaiya
Paramasvamin as the name of the central deity. His inscription of the 35th
year records that the temple of Urbhagangondaruliya Mahadevar was situated at Iraiyanaraiyur alias Sri
Sola-Kerala Chaturvedimangalam in Palur Kottam, a district of Miladu Jananatha
valanadu. This is the earliest mention of the alternate name of this village as
Sola-Kerala Chaturvedimangalam. So, it seems that Sola-Kerala was a nick
name of Kulottunga I himself. His inscription of the 48th year
records a sale by the local Sabha of land which belonged to two
absconding accountants who had incurred debts and left the village without
discharging them.
There are five inscriptions of Vikrama Chola. The
inscription of the 17th year makes a gift of land not only for
meeting the daily requirements of the temple but for the recitation every
Sunday of Manikavasagar hymn Tiruchchalal. There are about six inscriptions of
the time of Rajaraja II. In a record of his sixth year there figures an
influential local chief called Kudal Alappirandan Mogan Rajaraja Kadavarayan
who claims to have conquered the four quarters (Nalu Tikkilum Vendra) who is
the third Later Pallava-chief (in succession) celebrated in an inscription. Two
records of his sixth year refer to gifts of taxes by this chief to the temple
and the building of the Thirumaaligai (walls of enclosure).
An inscription of his 13th year is recorded
in the second gopuram and so it should have existed even at that
time. From an inscription of the 17th year, we gather that the village
was still called Sola-Kerala Chaturvedimangalam. Two gifts are recorded in the
period of Rajadhiraja II. Some records of Sola-Kerala deva and Tribhuvana
chakravartin Vira Rajendra might belong to Kulottunga III. An inscription of
the tenth year of Rajaraja III records a gift of 132 cows for a lamp by a
person who shot another by mistake in the course of a boar chase. Two gifts are
recorded in the 30th year of Pallava Kopperunjinga. There are a
number of Vijayanagara records also available in this Temple.
