Temples in Gramam (Mudiyur)

What was called Tirumundisvaram in the period of the Tamil saint Appar and Mouli-gramam in the days of Parantaka I has now come to be called simply Gramam. It is described as having been situated on the south bank of the Pennai; the river flowing by the side of this village is now called the Malattar. The village lies 2 miles (3.22 km.) to the west of the Madras-Tiruchy trunk road on the road branching off from it at the 107th mile-stone and leading to Tirukkoyilur. Appar (7th century a.d.) has a decad of verses on the Lord of this temple, which was known in ancient inscriptions as that of Arruttali Mahadevar but is now called that of Sivalokanathasvamin.

Sivalokanathasvamin temple

This place played a leading part in the latter part of the reign of Parantaka I. When the northern frontier of the Chola kingdom was threatened by the Rashtra-kutas, a military station seems to have been set up here to protect the northern frontier against the foreign threat. Rajaditya, the eldest son of Parantaka I, was placed in charge of this northern command to stem the tide of this foreign invasion.

The neighbouring town of Tirunavalur alias Tiruna-manallur, hallowed by the memory of the Tamil Saint Sundaramurti Nayanar, came to be called Rajaditta-puram, and its temple was renamed Rajadityesvaram. The mention of Rajaditya’s cavalry and his elephant corps and the presence of a Kerala General at Tiru-namanallur renamed Rajadittapuram, made the late Venkayya surmise that “Tirunamanallur was the capital of the province governed by Rajaditya during the reign of Parantaka I”. Though the two places, Gramam and Tirunamanallur, are close to each other, I am inclined to hold that the capital of the provincial government of Rajaditya might have been located at Mouli-gramam (=coronation-village, or, in Tamil, Mudiyur conveying the same meaning) rather than at Tirunamanallur alias Rajadityapuram. It seems very probable that Rajaditya was crowned here as heir-apparent, as the name Mouli-gramam would signify.

The Gramam inscriptions mention a number of gifts by the Kerala general of Rajaditya and his retinue. He is called Vellan Kumaran, and he is said to have been a native of Puttur on the banks of the river Nandi (‘Nandikkarai Puttur’) in Malainadu. He is called a Chamu-nayaka (=Leader of the army or General) in the Sanskrit portion of an inscription (755 of 1905: dated A.D. 943)^[1] and Perum-padai nayakan (=Great General) of Rajaditya and the Mula-bhritya (the first servant) of the Cholas in the Tamil part thereof. He was the builder of the Gramam temple.

There is an interesting inscription of Kannara-deva (Rashtrakuta Krishna III) found at Solapuram. It is dated in three different ways, mentioning (i) merely the year two, (ii) the saka year 871 and (iii) the year in which the Emperor Kannara-deva entered Tondaimandalam.^[2] Hultzsch has rightly identified the ‘year two’ of the record with the second year of the accession ofRajaditya as crown prince, and it should have been in that year that Kannara-deva invaded and entered Tondaimandalam after defeating Rajaditya and causing his death at the battle of Takkolam (a.d. 949). The Atakur inscription (saka 872) mentions that Rajaditya was killed in the battle of Takkolam by Butuga II, the ally of Krishna III, and that he was rewarded for his services by a gift of a number of villages. This is reinforced by a Viragal inscription found at Neralige on the borders of Mysore State. The Larger Leyden grant states that Rajaditya “went to the world of heroes, having been pierced in the heart while seated on his elephant.” Hence Rajaditya is referred to frequently in later times as Anai-merrunjina-devar.

An apartment of royal ladies at the palace of Tanjavur was called Kilar Velam after the name of “Udaiya Pirattiyar Kilanadigal, the mother of the Chola prince Anaimerrunjinar” (226 of 1911). This kilanadigal is identical with Kok-Kilanadigal,the queen of Parantakal and mother of Rajaditya alias Mummadi Chola. One of Rajaditya’s queens, called Irayiravan Devi Ammanar, makes in the 8th year of a Parakesarivarman perhaps Parantaka I a gift to the shrine of Sri Krishna and Rukmini at Tiruvellarai (212 of 1911).

There are on the walls of this temple a number of inscriptions of Parantaka I ranging from his 23rd to his 41st year. In the 23rd year and again in the 29th year of his reign, Vellan Kumaran, the General of Rajaditya, makes a gift of a lamp to the deity of this temple called Mulasthanattu Mahadevar of the temple of Arruttali at Tiru-mudiyur. But the most important inscription of the days of Parantaka I is the one already mentioned, that refers to the construction of the stone-temple and the consecration of the linga of Arruttali Mahadevar at Mouligramam. The earlier gifts to the old temple (perhaps of brick) should have been reengraved on the walls of the newly-built stone temple.

The conquest of this region by Krishna III is attested by three inscriptions of his on the walls of this temple (of his 20th, 22nd and 25th years). The conquerors did not disturb the even tenor of life in respect of religious and charitable institutions; indeed, sometimes they even made their own additions to enrich them.

The garbhagriha is a square 13 ft. 6. in. (4.11 m.) side. The basement has plain mouldings. The ardhamandapa measures 9 ft. 1 in. (2.77 m.). from east to west. There are three niches on the outer walls of the garbhagriha and two in the ardhamandapa. Each niche is flanked by two pilasters and two more at the ends of the wall.

The figures of the devakoshtas are Ganesa, Dakshina-murti, Vishnu, Brahma and Durga. There is a bhuta-gana frieze below the cornice and a frieze above it (Pis. 56 to 65).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

See the Annual Report of the Director-Genera! of Archaeology for 1905-06, “Gramam Inscription of Parantaka I”.

Sanskrit part, 11. 2 to 5: “Uttama Keralanam Rajadityasya sakshad avichalita Chamu-nayako Madurantakah Mouligramedhi Pennatata-dharani sila man-diram.....”

Tamil part, 11. 16 to 37: “Svasti Sri Kaliyuga varsham nalayirattu narpattu nalu Madiraikonda kop Parakesari-panmarkku yandu 36-avadu kaliyuga nal padinangu nurayirattu eluba (elula) irattu muppattu elaha Tirumudiyur Arruttalip Perumanadigal.....tiruk karraliyaha amaippittu—Siru Arruttalip Perumanadigalai tiruk karraliyin ulnee puha elundaruluvittu pratishtai seivittar Solarkal Mula-bhrityar Sri Pirantaka-devar ana Sri Virasolap Perumanadigal maganar Rajadityadeva perumbadi nayakar Malainattu Nandikkarai Puttur Vellan Kumaran.”

The date is interesting: the 4,044th year of the kali era and the 14,77,037th day from the commencement of that era, which corresponds to (a day in) the 36th year of Parantaka I. This is equated with the 14th of January, a.d.943.

[2]:

“Svasti sri yandu irandu saka varsham ennurru elupatti onru Chakravarti Kannara-deva Vallabhan Rajadittanai erindu Tondaimandalam Puhundavandu” (Epi. Indica, VIT, p. 195).