Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple History - Part I

To know that the village you live in, TIRUCHENDURAI, got a mention as early as the 9th century A.D. in one of the stone inscriptions found in the Sri Chandrasekaraswami Temple, would possibly surprise you but it is a fact. The very history of the temple is hoary if you know the people behind the construction and upgrading of the temple in the course of time.

The great historian K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, in his book ‘The Colas’ says this:

Parantaka was aided in his Pandyan campaigns by the Velir chiefs of Kodumbalur. Records dated very early in Parantaka’s reign show that Prince Arikulakesari, one of the sons of Parantaka, had married Pudi Adicha Pidari , daughter of Tennavan Ilangovelar of the Kodumbalur Line – (The Colas – p.125, 2000 Edition)

and this information is recorded on the south wall of the Mandapam in front of the central shrine in the ChandrasekaraswamiTemple at Tiruchendurai.



Since there will be some, who may not read the Tamil script, I am giving a transliteration of the inscription as well as a translation

Text:
Swasti Sri Kopparakesarivanmarkku yaandu
3rd – Ivvaandu Cholaperumaanadigal maganaar
Arikulakesariyaar deviyaar, Thennavan ILangovelar
magaLaar Pudi Adicha Pidaariyaar
Brahmadeyam (Brahmadesam) Isanamangalathu
Tirucendurai -- thaam eduppicha kattraLip
PerumaanadigaLukku Sennadai thiruvamudhukku
mudhalaagak kodutha vedelvidugu kallaal
thuLaippon aRubathu kazhanchu – IvvaRupadhu
kazhanchu ponnum Isanamangalathu
Parudaiyom kondum ipponnaal palisai kazhanchin
vai poovil thooNi padhakku nellaaga
Aattu arupathin kala nel soolakkaalaal
karthigai agappada muppadhin kalamum
Chandraadithyavath attuvomanom parudaiyom
paththettu kuthal pazhavarisi kuRuni
NaaL thiruvamudhukkum ucham podhaikkumaaga
– idhu panmaaheswara rakshai!!

Translation – Hail! Prosperity ! In the third year of the reign of King Parakesarivarman, Pudi Adichjcha Pidariyaar,daughter of Tennavan ILangovelar and queen of Arikulakesariyaar, who was the son of Chola Perumaanadigal (Parantaka I) gave in this year sixty kalanju of ThuLaippon (pure gold) weighed by the standard stone ‘vedelvidugu, as capital from which sacred offerings at the holy shrine have to be provided to the lord of the stone temple constructed by her at Tiruchendurai a hamlet of Isanamangalam which was a brhmadeya.

And we members of this assemply (parudaiyom) of Isanamangalam, having received this sixty kalanju of gold, agreed to measure out as long as the moon and sun shine (chandraadityavath) sixty kalams of paddy per year, measured by the soolakkaal, i.e. thirty kalams at the end of Karthigai and thirty kalams in the harvest (pisanam) at the end of Panguni -- in all sixty kalams of paddy -- as interest on this gold calculated at the rate of one tuni and one padakku of paddy per one kalanju for each crop..

One kuruni of old rice pounded, ten or eight times shall be used each day for providing the sacred offerings (a) at the dawn (naaL) and (b) in the mid-day (ucham) --- The assembly of all Maaheswaras shall protect this charity (volume III, page 228, South Indian Inscriptions, published by the Archaeological Survey of India).

What a history and what details !! Looking back at the history itself, it was a golden era for this part of the country when Vijayalaya Chola established the medieval Chola regime in 848 A.D. that continued for nearly four decades till 11th century.

The Parantaka referred in the above inscription is the third in line of succession to Vijayalaya (848 – 871)Aditya I (871 – 907) and Parantaka (907 – 950) .. It is said that Aditya I was instrumental in building temples in this part of the country, on both sides of the river Cauvery, which appears to have been followed by other chola kings, or their relations in the course of time.

I feel the present day population of Tiruchendurai will be between 3000 – 5000 but the village must have presented a different picture in the eighth century… How many of you have seen this temple, I do not know, but it is definitely big when compared to all other existing temple on the southern banks of the River Cauvery on the Tiruchi – Kulittalai belt. For a tiny (now) village to have a temple of this size, I imagine the village must have then been fairly big, and well populated, and also an important centre.

The Chola Kings and other chieftains of this area were having Uraiyur as their base (capital?) and for a princess of the Chola family to take interest in Tiruchendurai and build a temple in stone, there must have been substantial reasons. Was she herself resident in the village? There is no evidence.

That some of us have just been worshipping at the Temple, without knowing the treasures it held for the posterity is just amazing. I am still puzzled at the size of the temple and my imagination is running rather wild to have an insight of the village as it stood then. There is no possibility of the village to expand on the northern side as the river Cauvery is flowing there. The railway lines came up only in the last century, and so one can very safely assume that the village might have sprawled to quite an extent and well populated.

Dr. Laavanya of the Dr.Ma.Rajamanickanaar Historical Research Centre, (the centre is doing a great service in going after the temples, big or small, discovering stone inscriptions, reading and publishing them and they have published quite a number of articles and books) who has undertaken the task of looking for stone inscriptions at this temple, along with her colleagues from the Centre, has this to say in one of her articles published in the e-magazine ‘VARALAARU’ ( http://www.varalaaru.com/ )

** This tiny village, which abounds with fiftytwo stone inscriptions, came to light only in the year 883.

There are no evidences either in Tiruchendurai, or nearby villages or temples by way of stone inscriptions -- how the village looked like, or about its residents, prior to this time.

While the village interests were looked after by the Brahmadeya Mahasabha, the interests of the Temple were under the care of an assembly called ‘Moolaparudaiyar’ … Looking at the available inscriptions, it is evident that most members in both administrative units were Brahmins… The village was under the reign of Kodumbalur Velir Chieftains (Kings) who themselves were under the control of the Chola kings.

(to be continued)

- Sethuraman