Alanduraiyar Temple, Keezha
Pazhuvur – Inscriptions
There are about 27 inscriptions available
in this
Temple. The inscriptions of Parantaka I found on the walls of this
temple range from his 10th to his 37th year.
The most important of them is the one of his 12th year, which
relates to a gift of 90 sheep for a lamp in the
temple of Tiru Alandurai Mahadevar at Sirupazhuvur in Kunra Kurram
in celebration of the great Chola victory at the battle of Velur over the
combined forces of the Pandyas and the Ceylonese. This inscription is
significant as a contemporary record of victory inscribed soon after the great
event.
Another inscription of his time
and of the same date from Tirupparkkadal referring to the same event mentions
an endowment of 120 Kalanju of
gold, from the interest whereof four brahmans well versed in the Vedas were to
be fed every day in the Salai Mandapam built by the
donor, for the merit of four warriors who fell in a frontal attack in the
battle of Velur. This second Pandyan war in the days of Parantaka I was a
turning point in the history of South India. The existence of the present
structure of this
temple thus dates back to the time of Parantaka I.
There is an inscription dated to
15th year of a Parakesarivarman, which mentions that a chief called
Pazhuvettaraiyan Maravan Kandan built this
temple. If this is taken to refer to a Parakesari later than
Parantaka I, then it should be assigned to Uthama Chola, and, in that case, it
should be understood that he was responsible for the completion of this
temple-complex built during the time of Parantaka I, possibly by
adding the mukha mandapa,
a wall of enclosure and a gopura.
