Moolanathaswamy Temple, Bahour – History

Moolanathaswamy Temple, Bahour – History

Names of the Village & Deity:

The ancient name of this village as given in the inscriptions was Vagur, located in the territorial division called Vahur Nadu and the deity enshrined in the main sanctum now worshipped as Moolanathaswamy was once known as Moolasthanam Udaiya Perumanadigal and Parameswara. The village was called as Azhagiya Chola Chathur Vedhi Mangalam during Chola Period.

Pallavas:

The Temple was believed to be built during 6^th – 7^th Century A.D. by Pallavas. Narasimha Pallava, Nandi Varma Pallava, Nripatunga Varma Pallava and other Pallava Kings also contributed towards the renovation of the Temple.

Copper Plate Inscriptions:

One of the greatest discoveries at Bahour was a copper-plate inscription, close to this temple in the middle of a structure of bricks in 1879. It belongs to the eighth year of the reign of Nripatunga Varman, one the last Pallava emperors of Kanchipuram. This bilingual record, dated 877 A.D., consists of two portions, the first in Sanskrit etched in the Grantha script and the second in Tamil and in the Tamil script of the Pallava times.

This interesting inscription mentions an educational endowment made to a college of learning called Vidyasthana in Vahur. The donation, made by the king’s Minister called Marthandan or Nilaithangi, consisted of three villages, the income from which was to be enjoyed by the residents of the seat of learning at Vahur.

The copper plates record that this exceptional centre of education had as its curriculum, the fourteen branches of learning (chaturdashavidya) which included the four Vedas, six Vedangas, Mimamsa, Nyaya, Dharma Sastra and Puranas. This very detailed inscription mentions that the poet Nagaya who composed the Sanskrit verses was an employee of the Bahour college and the person who wrote it on copper sheets was a goldsmith named Nripatunga after the Pallava emperor.

Rashtrakuta King Krishna III Inscriptions:

There are six inscriptions belonged to Rashtrakuta King Krishna III, also known as Kannaradeva of the 10^th Century A.D., one of greatest monarch of the Rashtrakuta Dynasty of Manyakheta. This king invaded the Chola territory and defeated the Chola army decisively in the 10^th century and thus his inscriptions are seen in many temples in Tamil Nadu. All the inscriptions were dated from his 22^nd to his 27^th years (three of his inscriptions belonged to 22^nd regnal year, one of his inscriptions belonged to 26^th year and two of his inscriptions belonged to 27th year).

One of his 26^th year inscription mentions a gift of four stone-slabs towards the construction of a tier of this temple by one Naminakkan Sankaran. It may be concluded that the temple converted into granite temple and was nearing completion about this time. Hence it should be considered a temple built in the latter part of the 10th century, the period of Parantaka I and Krishna III.

Chola Inscriptions:

The Temple contains inscriptions dated Parantaka Chola I (9^th Century A.D.). This inscription records about the renovation works carried out by Parantaka Chola I. The Temple was extensively supported by successive Chola monarchs like Sundara Chola, Rajaraja Chola I and Rajendra Chola I. The name Vahur got changed to Sri Alagiya Chola Chaturvedimangalam, from the 25^th year of Rajaraja Chola I.

There are Chola inscriptions here dates back to the period of Aditya Chola II, the elder brother of Rajaraja I of the 10th century A.D. It is dated back to fifth regnal year of Kop-Parakesari “who took the head of the Pandya” i.e. Aditya II. It records the gift of a perpetual lamp by Nambi Damodaran. Most of the inscriptions record various gifts to this temple and one donation was earmarked for annual repairs to be carried out in the tank at Vahur.