800-year-old Shiva temple of later Pandya period unearthed near Melur
Professor P. Devi Arivu Selvam, temple architect and sculpture researcher, says that though only the foundation of the temple remains, the inscriptions on the culvert are significant as they reveal how the temple had been financially independent.
While documents published by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology in 1974-75 had described the existence of ancient temples in this belt, most of them are in ruins and some have almost disappeared. So, it came as a surprise to historians when recently boys playing in an open ground at Udampatti in the Malampatti panchayat stumbled upon a broken stone structure covered in mud.
The villagers alerted the Village Adminsitrative Officer (VAO) and Ms. Devi. With the VAO's permission, the area was cleared. What emerged was the foundation of a temple with the stone base on the northern and southern sides intact.
With the help of the engravings on the foundation stone and Silpa Sastram as reference, the temple was found to have been dedicated to Lord Shiva.
C. Santhalingam, archaeologist and secretary of the Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research, who deciphered the two Tamil inscriptions found on the stone base, says they can be dated to 1217-1218 CE, during the reign of Maravarman Sundara Pandya.
The inscriptions say the name of the village was Attur and the temple was called Thennavanisvaram. 'It is pertinent to note that Thennavan is actually a title used by the Pandyas,' says Ms. Devi.
The inscriptions are a sale deed of a waterbody by one Alagaperumal, chieftain of Kalavalinadu, to one Nambi Perambala Kuthan alias Kangeyan. The waterbody, called Nagankudi, along with wet and dry land, was sold for 64 kasu (coins). The four boundaries of the land and the waterbody that had been sold have been defined in the inscriptions. It has also been mentioned that the tax due to the land should be given to the God of Thennavaniswaram of Attur for its day-to-day expenses.
For historians, these inscriptions reveal the ancient name of Udampatti, which was then called Attur, and also the socio-economic dynamics that were at play during the later Pandya period.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
4 hours ago
- The Hindu
Religious fervour, devotion marks ‘Kavad Yatra' in Visakhapatnam
Hundreds of devotees participated in the Kavad Yatra 2025, organised by the Marwari Yuva Manch, for the 23rd consecutive year on Sunday. This spiritual procession began at 6 a.m. from Madhavdhara temple, with devotees carrying sacred water in their 'kavads' and chanting 'bol bum/Har Har Mahadev' in reverence to Lord Shiva. The procession culminated at Sri Jagannath temple where devotees offered scared water at the Shiv Linga, located at Daspalla Hills, behind All India Radio, according to Naresh Agarwal, past president of the manch. This year's yatra was conducted with the support and collaboration of several community organisations, including Utkal Samaj, Kerala Kala Samiti, Terapanth Samaj, and Maheshwari Yuva Manch, and cooperation from the police department.
The Hindu
13 hours ago
- The Hindu
Tara Murali, 75, passes away
Tara Murali, 75, architect and wife of N. Murali, Director of The Hindu Group of Publications and president of The Music Academy, passed away at their home in Chennai late in the evening of Saturday (July 26, 2025). She had been ailing for some time. She is survived by her husband, their son Krishna Murali, their daughter Kanta Murali, three grand-children, and her elder brother, Ramesh Pattabhiraman. Tara Murali was schooled at Sacred Heart Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Churchpark in Chennai, did her pre-university course at Stella Maris College, and took her Bachelor of Architecture ( degree at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of Madras. She had an active architectural practice over four decades and pursued public causes related to town planning, and environmental and consumer protection. Among the causes she has taken up were the conservation of Palani Hills, protection of heritage buildings including the Director General of Police's office, and Queen Mary's College. Thoroughly secular and modern in outlook, she had varied interests: music, literature, environment, heritage and consumer action. She served for several years as a Trustee of the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), was a member of the Broadcast Complaints Council and INTACH governing council, and was active in book groups. She was President of the Tamil Nadu Table Tennis Association and also of the Table Tennis Players Welfare Association. She translated Ma. Po. Sivagnanam's Tamil book on Veerapandiya Kattabomman into English. The cremation will be at the Besant Nagar crematorium on Monday (July 28, 2025).
Hans India
15 hours ago
- Hans India
Koraput inscription sheds new light on 11th century history
Berhampur: A regal antiquity has surfaced amidst the quiet corridors of Jeypore Museum. The antiquity is an inscribed stone pillar that promises to realign the historical narrative of southern Odisha and Chakrakota-Bastar heartland of Chhattisgarh. In a discovery on July 1, renowned epigraphist Bishnu Mohan Adhikari, along with cultural researchers Sarat Routray and Himansu Sekhar Sadangi, deciphered an inscription of profound significance, nestled unassumingly in the museum's verandah. This monumental find, etched on a fragmented 7-foot-high pillar, bears a 16-line royal eulogy (Raja Prasasti) of Chindaka Naga king titled 'Madana Nrpa Kula Kamala Bhaskara Tilaka' (a blazing sun to the lotus clan of rulers). The intricately carved stone, originally brought from Bhairabsinghpur-Kumli-Kamta region of the Indravati valley, also carries on its flank a curious erotic motif, depicting an ass and a pig, an iconographic clue recurrent in the visual culture of the dynasty's epigraphs and copper plates. Though some lines of the inscription remain obscured or lost beneath the concrete plinth, Adhikari suspects further truths lie buried, perhaps awaiting another chisel of time. The inscription dates back to Nagavanshi kings of Chakrakota, the ancient capital that corresponds to present-day Bastar in Chhattisgarh and stretches its dominion across parts of Kalahandi and Koraput in 11th-century India. Adhikari linked this pillar with the reign of Someswara Deva (1069–1110 CE), a monarch celebrated in other inscriptions from Kuruspal (Chhattisgarh), reinforcing connections within the dynastic line. Raj Kumar Rate, history lecturer at Khariar Autonomous College, called this 'a monumental finding for Odisha,' emphasising that it is the first-ever Chindaka Naga inscription unearthed within Odisha's modern boundaries, predating even the famed Khechela copper plate of Raghunath Krushna Deva. Historian Om Soni from Chhattisgarh agreed, affirming it as the first known Odishan reference to King Someswara Deva of Chakrakota. Equally fascinating is the inscription's linguistic character written in 'corrupt Sanskrit' with Odra Nagari characters that foreshadow the evolution of Odia script. Adhikari noted peculiar word forms like 'Bikantha Sri Karana', 'Kasa Dasa', and 'Damodara', which mirror the stylistic flourishes of Ganga king Vajrahasta V's era, further aligning it with inscriptions from eastern India. This could mark the Koraput region's earliest evidence of emerging Odia writing traditions. The inscription echoes familiar names and eulogies found in other royal records of Chindaka Naga lineage, suggesting strong dynastic continuity. Adhikari theorises that the Chindaka Nagas, rising after the decline of the Nalas, were strategically established in Chakrakota with support from Somavanshi kings like Janmejaya and Udyotakeshari. During periods of strife between Eastern Gangas and the Kalachuris, the Nagas emerged as loyal allies of the Gangas. This newly unveiled relic is not merely a stone with ancient script. It is a portal to a complex era of tribal kingdoms, artistic expression, dynastic diplomacy and linguistic transition. As this inscription finds its voice after centuries of silence, it paves the way for a renewed understanding of the rich historical and cultural mosaic of the Koraput-Bastar frontier. The past, long buried beneath the dust of time, has spoken once more. Its echoes may change the way this vibrant land is viewed.
