Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Thirubhuvanai – Inscriptions

Varadharaja Perumal Temple, Thirubhuvanai – Inscriptions

From an inscription dated to 5^th regnal year of Rajendra Chola I, it is learnt that it was called Naduvil Viranarayana Vinnagar at Tribhuvanamahadevi Chaturvedimangalam, a Brahmadeya in Jayam Konda Chola Mandalam. This is the earliest inscription found on the east wall of the temple. Though this inscription is dated to Rajendra Chola I period, the existence of the temple can be dated to Parantaka Chola – I.

There are two inscriptions dated to Rajaraja I. Neither of them is on the body of the main temple. One, dated to his tenth year, relates to a gift of land for supplying water and for a lamp; it is found on a slab built into the floor of a mandapa. The other, of his twelfth year, is highly damaged, and is found on a stone slab lying by the side of the same mandapa.

It is clear that the old foundation of the days of Parantaka I existed well into the reign of Rajaraja I, and the re-building took place between the twelfth year of Rajaraja I and the fifth year of Rajendra I. The fifth-year inscription of Rajendra I further informs that this temple was placed under the protection of two regiments, one of them called the Sri Vaduvur Tillaiyalip Perumpadai—reminiscent of Rajaraja I, placing the Tiruvalisvaram temple under the protection of the Munru-kai Mahasenai.

In another two inscriptions of Rajendra I, dated to his tenth and sixteenth years, a big lake named Kokkilanadip-pereri has been mentioned. (Kokkilanadigal was the name of a queen of Parantaka I’s). The same sixteenth year inscription mentions that Varakkur, a Devadana village of the temple, was apportioned among 48 tenants, and the village lands were divided into six divisions. The tenants were not to be subjected to any levies other than dues to the temple and the Kokkilanadip-pereri.

In one of the other three inscriptions of the days of Rajendra l, mention is made of a Madam called the Rajendra Cholan Madam for feeding the Vaishnavas of the eighteen districts (a traditional group of adjacent Vishnu temples and their followers) and of a grant of land made for its maintenance. There are four inscriptions of Rajadhiraja I. The most important of them is the one of his 30^th regnal year, inscribed on the east, north and west walls of the temple. A charity named Rajendrasolan Uttamagram was instituted to secure the health of the king (Rajendra I). Perhaps, it was instituted in about A.D 1044, final year of the life and reign of Rajendra I, but recorded four years later in A.D 1048 here.

The endowment consisted of a gift of 72 of land yielding an annual rental of 12,000 kalams of paddy. The grant provided for offerings and worship on a grand scale (Uttamagram) to the deities of Veetrirunda Perumal (of the), Alagiya Manavalar and Narasinga Alvar, for the conduct of festivals, for the recitation of Tiruvoymoli, and for the maintenance of a Vedic college (including the feeding of twelve teachers and 260 students).

An inscription of the thirty-fifth year (93^rd day) gives him the title of Vijaya Rajendra Deva and records a gift of land to the Alvar of Tiruvay(h)indrapuram (modern Thiruvanthipuram near Cuddalore. Another gift to the same deity is made in the seventh year of Rajendra Deva II. An undated record of Rajadhiraja I mentions a service-mam given to a goldsmith called Arangan Komaran alias Raja-dhirajap-peruntattan. He was to work for himself and for others within the city and its hamlets.

An inscription of the days of Rajendra deva II, registers an order of the royal secretary (issued at the request of the Senapati) that none but the resident of Varakkur should levy or pay any kind of dues within the village and that others who did so would be considered to have transgressed the law. Another, of the same year, registers an order of the assembly altering the classification of the lands in Puttur alias Jananathanallur which had been formerly granted for the merit of Udaiyapirattiyar Parantaka Uloga Mahadeviyar. “Uloga Mahadeviyar” seems to be erroneously used in place of “Sembiyan Mahadeviyar”.

The earlier grant referred to would appear to have been made in the reign of Rajaraja I (as the term Jananatha is a surname of king) for the merit of Sembiyan Mahadevi, for whom Rajaraja I had boundless devotion. Though Rajaraja I had a queen called Uloga Mahadevi alias Danti Sakti Vidanga, the prefix “Udaiyapirattiyar Parantaka” suggests that the lady concerned should be identified with Sembiyan Mahadevi.

Remaining inscription of Rajendra Deva II, of his seventh year, relates to a gift of land for offerings, made to the temple of Virasola Vinnagar Alvar by the local assembly meeting in the Viranarayana Vinnagar Alvar temple. Parantaka I had both titles “Viranarayana” and “Virasola”.