# Centalai, Sundareśvara temple, time of Māṟañ Caṭaiyaṉ, year 16

Valérie Gillet and Emmanuel Francis

Authors of digital edition: Valérie Gillet, Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPandya00505

Repository: Pāṇḍya (tfa-pandya-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSPandya00505.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

Commit: 2026-10-01 13:11 (562e33f), last modified 2026-09-29 11:09
(e2e7d8a)

## Summary

Sundareśvara temple, Centalai, Tiruvaiyāṟu taluk, Tañcāvūr district. On
the southern doorjamb of the Gaṇeśa shrine. The inscription is engraved
on a stone which was probably re-used because the inscription on the
opposite doorjamb (SII 6.444) records the construction of this shrine at
a much later period, probably during the Nāyaka period. The last
syllable at the end of each line is not visible, but it appears in
brackets in the edition of SII.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī

kō-(mā)⟨2⟩ṟañ caṭaiyaṟku (y)⟨3⟩(ā)ṇṭu 10 6 Āvatu (ti)⟨4⟩ru-p-perun-tuṟai
(ma)⟨5⟩hā-devark=ku narik(ku)⟨6⟩ṭi cātokaraṇi n(ārā)⟨7⟩yaṇaṉ māṟaṉ
brā(hma)⟨8⟩ṇi nilaṉāraṇi pa(ka)⟨9⟩l-viḷakku Erip(pa)⟨10⟩(tā)ka vaiytta
(po)⟨11⟩ṉ Eṇ kaḻañ(cu)

⟨12⟩ Ip-poṉ (ko)⟨13⟩ṇṭōm I(ta)⟨14⟩ṉ palicaiyā(l) ⟨15⟩ pakal-viḷak(ku)
⟨16⟩ Erippōm (ā)⟨17⟩ṉōm tiru-p-(pe)⟨18⟩run-tuṟai
ti(ru)⟨19⟩-k-kōyil-u(ṭai)⟨20⟩yōm

Iv(v-ū)⟨21⟩rum peru-mak(kalu)⟨21⟩m māheśva(ra)⟨22⟩rum Irakṣai

## Translation by Gillet 2017

Hail! Prosperity! This is the 16th year of king Māṟañcaṭaiyaṉ. For
Mahādeva of Tirupperuntuṟai, Nilanāraṇi, the Brahmin ⟨wife⟩ of
Cātokaraṇi Nārāyaṇaṉ Māṟaṉ of Narikkuṭi, for burning a day lamp (pakal
viḷakku), endowed 8 kaḻañcu of gold; having taken this gold, with the
interests of it (itaṉ), we will burn (erippōmāṉōm) a day lamp, we the
lords of the temple/priests (tiruk-kōyiluṭaiyār) of Tirupperuntuṟai. The
people of this village (ivvūr-um), the Great people (perumakkaḷ-um) and
the Māheśvaras protect ⟨this endowment⟩.

## Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1898–99 (ARIE/1898-1899/B/1899/9), in Mahalingam 1992
(Tj 2613).

Edited in Subrahmanya Aiyer 1928 (SII 6.445). Edited and translated in
Gillet 2017, based on autopsy and photographs (Valérie Gillet, 2016).

This digital edition by Valérie Gillet and Emmanuel Francis.

### Primary

Gillet, Valérie. 2017. “Devotion and Dominion: Ninth-Century Donations
of a Pāṇḍyan King in Temples along the River Kāvēri.” IIJ 60 (3), pp.
219–283. DOI: 10.1163/15728536-06003002. [URL]. Pages 266–267, item 18.

### Secondary

ARIE 1898–99. G.O., &c., Nos. 922-23, 19th August 1899. Epigraphy.
Passing orders on the annual report on – for 1898-99. Copy to the
Government of India. Edited by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch. Madras:
Government of Madras, Public Department, 1899. Page 23, appendix B/1899,
item 10.

[TLI] Mahalingam, T. V. 1992. A topographical list of inscriptions in
the Tamil Nadu and Kerala states. Volume Seven: Thanjavur district. New
Delhi: ICHR.