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....

Narasingapuram is a village near Kuvam in the Tiruvallur taluk of the Chingleput district. It is 57 km. from Madras City. It is referred to, in inscriptions of the days of Kulottunga 1 found here, as Madhurantaka-nallur, a village in Kunrur nadu, a subdivision of Manavir kottam.

Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal temple

The local Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal temple consists of two shrines, the subsidiary one being now referred to as the Nach-chiyar shrine. On the walls of this shrine are found the earliest Chola inscriptions, all four of the days of Kulottunga I. From one, of the 35th year of Rajakesarivarmar alias Kulottunga Choladeva, found on the south wall of the shrine, we learn that a shrine was erected for Rama, Sita and Lakshmana consecrated in the temple of Madhurantaka Vinnagar in Madhurantaka nallur, and a gift of oil for two lamps was made by the inhabitants of Kadarangonda-solapuram in Pasali nadu of the same (Manavir) kottam (ARE 244 of 1910). Another, found on the south wall of the shrine, and undated, formally registers and affirms the consecration of the same shrine by an oil-monger (vaniyan) called Pannanandali Sural alias (Sr)iramaduta of Kidarangondasolapuram; mention is also made of provision for lamps and offerings (ARE 245 of 1910). A third, of the 34th year, found on the north wall, registers a gift of land by the inhabitants of Madhurantaka nallur to the God, Goddess and Ilaya-alvar (Lakshmana) in the temple of Madhurantaka Vinnagar Alvar (ARE 249 of 1910). The fourth (ARE 247 of 1910) gives merely a portion of the historical introduction, beginning with pugal madu vilanga, of Kulottunga I. We also have, on the north wall, an inscription of the seventh year of Vikrama Chola, which appears to register a sale of land by the Assembly of Kottur alias Solavichchadira chaturvedimangalam in Kunrur nadu, a subdivision of Manavir kottam in Jayangondasola mandalam (ARE 948 of 1910). Kottur is short for Ilambayam-kottur, where a temple of stone for Siva was built in the days of Rajadhiraja II, as we shall see later.

On the walls of the main shrine, there are seven inscriptions, all relating to the reigns of two Vijayanagara rulers. Virapratapa Achyutayya deva Maharaja (of Saka years 1455, 1456 and 1457) and Vira Venkatapatideva Maharaya (Saka 1530). Of the two earliest (of Saka 1455; ARE 238 and 242 of 1910), one relates to the gift of the village of Periya Puliyur alias Narasimhapuram to some brahmanas for the merit of the king, by one Tittara Pillai, on the occasion of the consecration of Lakshmi-Narasimhamurti; the other also concerns a gift of land to brahmanas on the same occasion.

An inscription of Saka 1457 (ARE 239 of 1910), found on the south wall of the main shrine, relates to a gift of land to Sri-vaishnavas by the same Tittara Pillai for the merit of ‘Periyasvami Narasa Nayaka’ (the father and predecessor of the king), on the occasion of the consecration of the image of Prahlada Purandhara (to be taken in procession) in the

“Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal temple at Kuvam- Tyagasamudra-nallur[1] alias Narasanayakapuram[2] in Kunrur nadu in Tenkarai Manavir kottam in Chandragiri Rajya in Jayangondasola mandalam.”

Nachchiyar shrine

It is not possible for us to conclude on the basis of the available evidence whether the shrine for Rama, Sita and Lakshmana consecrated in the days of Kulottunga I, was itself the Madhurantaka Vinnagar of the inscriptions on its walls, or whether it was built (as a subsidiary shrine) in the campus of a then extant Vishnu temple of that name. It is however clear that the present main shrine was consecrated to Lakshmi Narasimha Perumal in the Vijayanagara days (presumably in honour of Narasa Raja) and that, at that time, the other shrine (then perhaps in disuse) originally dedicated to Rama in the days of Kulottunga I was converted into a subsidiary shrine for Nachchiyar (the Divine Consort in Vaishnavite temples).

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

—Tyagasamudra was a title of Vikrama Chola.

[2]:

—Narasanayaka was a Vijayanagara ruler.

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