Later Chola Temples
by S. R. Balasubrahmanyam | 1979 | 143,852 words
This volume of Chola Temples covers Kulottunga I to Rajendra III in the timeframe A.D. 1070-1280. The Cholas of Southern India left a remarkable stamp in the history of Indian architecture and sculpture. Besides that, the Chola dynasty was a successful ruling dynasty even conquering overseas regions....
Temples in Magaral
We have discussed the Siva temple in this locality in Section 3 of the chapter on ‘Temples of Kulottunga II’s days’. There is a Vishnu temple here, close to the Siva temple. The deity is now called Vaikuntha Perumal. In the earlier days it was named, as seen from inscriptions, Tiru-mer-Koyil-Virrirunda Perumal. Both the main shrine and the Consort’s shrine sannidhi) attached to it belong to the period of Rajaraja III.
Vaikunthaperumal temple
There are five inscriptions found on the walls of the shrines of this temple. Four of them are inscribed on the walls of the central (Vishnu) shrine and one in the Consort’s shrine. Three of the four in the main shrine belong to the same year, viz., the 28th year of Rajaraja III, and record gifts of lamps (ARE 221, 222 and 223 of 1901). The fourth one on the Vishnu shrine records the building, by the 23rd year of that ruler, of the central shrine, the ardkamandapa, another mandapa, the sopana (the flight of steps) and the sripitkam for Vishnu (ARE 224 of 1901).
The relevant portion of this inscription reads as follows:
“Tribhuvanachakravartigal Sri Rajaraja devarkku yandu 23 -avadu Jayangondasola mandalattuEyirkkottattu Magaral nattu Magaral Tint merk koyil Virrirmda Empenman koyil Sri-vimanamum tiru-ardha-mandapamum tiru-mandapamum sopanamum sri-pithamum ivvur pattiya Poyan-maniyan Perugan Seyvittan—Harihi”.
The inscription thus records that the temple complex was
“caused to be built (seyvittan) by Poyan Maniyan Perugan of the same place, viz., Magaral, situated in Magaral nadu, in the district of Eyirk-kottam in the province of Jayangondasola mandalam”.
The temple must have been completed in or possibly before the 23rd regnal year of Rajaraja III (a.d. 1239), the date of the inscription. This is thus a dated temple, one of the few with a regular foundation inscription.
About the same time as the construction of the central Vishnu shrine was in progress, the shrine of the Consort must also have been under construction and was in fact completed much earlier: above the entrance to this shrine, there is an inscription in Tamil verse which states that it was built in the sixth year of Rajaraja III (a.d. 1222). The central shrine of Vishnu with all its adjuncts obviously took a longer time to complete.
ARE 225 of 1901 (SII, VII, No. 375):
“Svasti Sri Sri Rajarajar... Tiruvatikalan Murugan Tirukkoyil-seydan sirandu”.