Temples in Tirumukkudal

The Chandramoulisvara temple at Tiruvakkarai, in the Villupuram taluk of South Arcot district has been dealt with in my Early Chola Art I, and Early Chola Temples. While dealing with the Siva shrine in this temple in Chapter 2, we mentioned the existence of a Vishnu shrine in the campus of this temple.

Varadaraja Perumal shrine

There are four inscriptions of Kulottunga I on the walls and base of this shrine, three relating to his 27th, 30th, and 41st years, while the one on the west wall of the mandapa in front of this shrine relates to the 2nd year of Udaiyar Adhirajendra deva (it is in Grantha and Tamil and incomplete). But the Sanskrit portion records that the vimana which had been previously built by Kochchola of brick was reconstructed of stone. We can, therefore, take it that the present structure of this shrine belongs to the second year of Adhirajendra. This is perhaps one of the rare contributions made during Adhirajendra’s brief and uncertain rule of a few months (1067/8 to 1070 a. d.—ARE 205 of 1904).

The Chandramoulisvara temple which had its nucleus in the days of Aditya I grew in size with Sembiyan Mahadevi’s shrine for the Paramasvamin and Adhirajendra’s new stone shrine for Varadaraja perumal; in the Later Chola period were added the Sambuvarayan gopuram and the hundred pillared hall.