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Thursday, July 16, 2020

Alanduraiyar Temple, Keezha Pazhuvur – Inscriptions

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.