Temples in Narttamalai

We have already referred to the temples of Narttamalai in Early Chola Art, Pi. I (pp. 44-52) when dealing with the temple of Vijayalayasolisvaram and in Middle Chola Temples (pp. 191-201) when studying Tirumalaik-Kadambur.

Narttamalai is a small village in the Pudukkottai district, about 4 km. from the railway station of the same name on the Tiruchy-Manamadurai section of the Southern Railway. It was a centre of great commercial activity in early days and its present name of Narttamalai is merely a corruption of Nagarattar-malai (a commercial town). In the 11th century, the place went by the name of Telinga-kula-kala-puram, and in the 12th and 13th centuries, it was renamed Kulottungasola-pattinam (after Kulot-tunga III).

In the earlier volumes, we have traced the origin and growth of the cave-temples and the other main temples of Vijayalayasolisvaram and Tiru-malaik-kadambur-Isvaram.

i) Tiru-Anaikka-Udaiya Nayanar temple;
ii) Nachduyar Tiruk-koyil (Amman temple)

According to a record of the seventh year of Tribhuvana-chakravartin Rajendradeva III (inscription no.200 of the Inscriptions (Text) of the Pudukkottai State and ARE 357 of 1904) the Adi-Chandesvara Devakanmis of the Tirumalaikkadambur temple of Telinga-kula-kala-puram alias Kulottungasola-pattinam (Narttamalai) gave a gift of iraiyili land to Tachchar Acharym Poreru Seman alias Akalankan Asari as acharya-dakshina for the temple-building works done by him and his father in respect of the Tirumalaikkadambur temple, the Tiruvanaikka-Udaiya Nayanar temple and the Nachchiyar Tirukkoyil (shrine for the Goddess), and the installation of the Tiruk-kodi-devar (the flag-staff of the temple).