# Mēlappaḻuvūr, Agastyeśvara temple, time of [name lost], year 22

Valérie Gillet and Emmanuel Francis

Authors of digital edition: Valérie Gillet, Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSMelKil00015

Repository: Mēlappaḻuvūr & Kīḻappaḻuvūr
(tfa-melappaluvur-kilappaluvur-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSMelKil00015.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

Commit: 2026-09-29 11:09 (3c1804e), last modified 2026-09-29 11:09
(3c1804e)

## Summary

AIM, southern shrine; on the westernmost wall section of the southern
façade of the ardha-maṇḍapa, upper inscription; 22nd regnal year of […]
rivarman = probably Āditya I (circa 893 A.D.); the puḷḷis (the dots
added above the letter to signify that the vowel is dropped) are marked,
which would confirm a date in the 9th century; the western part of the
inscription is built over by the wall of the mukha-maṇḍapa, but we can
restore some words because the inscription is similar to INSMelKil00013
and INSMelKil00014.

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ […] ripammaṟku yāṇṭu Irupattiraṇṭāvatu ⟨2⟩ […]
Avanikanta⟨r⟩ppa-Īśvaragr̥hattu mahādevarkku ce ⟨3⟩ […] mahaṣivaśettu
kṣatriyaṉ potukaṉ perumāṉ ⟨4⟩ […] yuṭa paḻuvēṭṭaraiyaṉ kumaraṉ maṟavaṉ
prasa ⟨5⟩ […] naṅ kiṭanta bhūmiyaik kalli Eṭṭu māc cey nīr ⟨6⟩ […] la
pōkaṅ koṇṭu Iraṇṭu taḷiIlum Orō nan ⟨7⟩ […] koṇṭōm Ittaḷip paṭṭuṭaiŌm
Ēḻuvōm Ivvi ⟨8⟩ […] ntaṟpapurattu nakarattār Iddharmmam rakṣippār aṭi En
⟨9⟩ […]

## Translation by Gillet 2024

[…] This is the twenty-second year of [Kōvirājakesa]rivarman. To
Mahādeva of the temple (gr̥hattu) of the Lord (īśvara) ⟨of⟩ Avanikantappa
[…] Mahāṣivaśettu the Kṣatriya, Potukaṉ Perumāṉ[1] […] by the grace
(prasa[dāttiṉāl]) of Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyaṉ Kumaraṉ Maṟavaṉ […] having worked
(kalli) on the land (bhūmiyai) which lies (kiṭanta) [without enjoyment]
(apōhanan), ⟨Mahāṣivaśettu the Kṣatriya, Potukaṉ Perumāṉ, gave⟩ eight
mās (eṭṭu mā) and one cey of wet land (nīr[nilam]) […] with (koṇṭu) the
produce (pōkaṅ) [of this land], [we will have to burn] one perpetual
lamp (nan[tāviḷakku]) in each (orō) of the two temples (iraṇṭu taḷi
ilum) […] we, the Paṭṭuṭaiyārs of this temple, we the Seven, have taken
(koṇṭōm) [the produce to burn the lamps]. The Nagarattārs of
[Avanika]ntaṟpapuram will protect (rakṣippār) this endowment
(iddharmmam). I am a servant (aṭi-en).[2]

## Commentary

The beginning of the lines is built in.

There is probably a 9th line, covered by a later wall, that would be
followed on the same line by the beginning of INSMelKil00016. The
inscription would conclude with the usual formula “The feet of he who
protects this pious donation are on my head.”, exactly like in
INSMelKil00014

## Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1923–24 (ARIE/1923-1924/C/1924/355).

Edited and translated in Gillet 2024, based on autopsy and photographs
(by Valérie Gillet, 2016-2018).

This digital edition by Valérie Gillet and Emmanuel Francis.

### Primary

Gillet, Valérie. 2024. Minor Majesties: The Paḻuvēṭṭaraiyars and their
South Indian Kingdom of Paḻuvūr, 9th-11th centuries A.D. New York:
Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oso/9780197757710.001.0001. [URL].
Page 149, item 15.

### Secondary

ARIE 1923–24. Annual report on South-Indian epigraphy for the year
ending 31st March 1924. Edited by G. Venkoba Rao. Madras: Government
Press, 1925. Page TBC, appendix C/1924, item 355.

[1] Probably the donor.

[2] This is probably the beginning of the final expression “May their
feet be on my head” (aṭi y-eṉ-talai mēlaṉa). However, this would mean
that there is a 9th line engraved under the wall, but the following line
belongs to another later inscription, INSMelKil00018. The latter would
then begin after the final expression of INSMelKil00015, in continuation
of the 9th line.