Temples in Edayarpakkam

This village, in the Chingleput district, was known in ancient times as Purisai or Idaiyarrup-pakkam. The Saivite temple of Tiruppadak-kadudaiya Mahadevar here perhaps came into existence as a stone structure in the reign of Kulottunga I, its builder being a certain Chandrasekharan Ravi alias Cholendraf Simha Achari.

Mahadevar (Siva) temple

According to an inscription of the 12th year of Kulottunga I, found on the north side of the base of this temple,) a piece of land was purchased for the maintenance of a lamp in this temple from the money which a brahmana lady had left in the hands of the shepherds of Edayarpakkam (ARE 254 of 1910). The reason was that these shepherds apparently could not buy enough sheep for the purpose out of that amount and refused to supply ghee. In this inscription, the temple is said to be in Idiayar-ruppakkam alias Rajavidyadhara chaturvedimangalam. There are two other inscriptions of the same ruler, both dated in his 38th year (ARE 252 and 251 of 1910) and found on the same (north) side of the base of the temple, which relate respectively to (a) a gift of 95 sheep for a lamp to the temple of Tiruppadakkadudaiya Mahadevar at Purisai in Purisai nadu, a subdivision of Manavirkottam injayangondasola mandalam, and (b) a gift of two lamps to the temple. There is a 11th year inscription of Rajadhirajadeva (II), on the south side of the base, referring to a gift of cows in exchange for land. The village is called Purisai, a village of Tiruppadakkadudaiyar; and Idaiyarruppakkam bears the alternate name of Rajavidyadhara chaturvedimangalam.

From this temple we find a fine example of the high sense of duty that the residents of a village showed towards discharging the responsibility of maintaining their local institutions, during this period (ARE 254 of 1910). The one of land purchased from the villagers by the brahmana lady and presented to the temple for the maintenance of a perpetual lamp was found unsuitable for irrigation on account of the high level at which it was situated. Besides, the land was in a distant corner of the village with the result that no one came forward to cultivate it. The lamp had consequently to be given up and the trustees of the temple would appear to have requested the villagers to take back into their own management the land which they had once sold to the brahmana lady and to supply instead the required number of cows, to maintain the lamp. This was done and the land was resumed by the villagers.