SII 1.66: original edition by Eugen Hultzsch – PART II. TAMIL AND GRANTHA INSCRIPTIONS. IV. INSCRIPTIONS AT TIRUMALAI NEAR POLŪR. No. 66. ON A BURIED ROCK IN FRONT OF THE GOPURA AT THE BASE OF THE TIRUMALAI HILL.

Editor: Emmanuel Francis.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv01p0i0066.

Summary: This inscription is dated in the 21st year of Ko-Rāja-Rājakesarivarman, alias Rājarāja-deva, and again (in words) in the twenty-first year of Śoṛaṉ Arumoṛi, the lord of the river Poṉṉi, i.e., of the Kāverī. The greater part of the historical portion of this inscription is identical with that of the two Māmallapuram inscriptions Nos. 40 and 41. Iraṭṭa-pāḍi is, however, omitted from the list of the countries conquered by the king.1 Consequently Rājarāja-deva must have taken possession of Iraṭṭapāḍi between his twenty-first and his twenty-fifth years, the dates of Nos. 66 and 40 respectively. The inscription records that a certain Guṇavīramāmunivaṉ built a sluice, which he called after a Jaina teacher, whose name was Gaṇiśekhara-Maru-Poṟchūriyaṉ.2 The Tirumalai Rock is mentioned under the name Vaigai-malai, “the mountain of Vaigai.” In Nos. 69 and 70, it is called Vaigai-Tirumalai, “the holy mountain of Vaigai.” The name Vaigai seems to be connected with Vaigavūr, the name of the village at the base of the rock, which occurs in Nos. 67 and 68.

Hand description:

Language: Tamil.

Repository: South Indian Inscriptions (Original Edition) (south-indian-inscriptions).

Version: (1624459), last modified (829da8c).

Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [||] tirumakaḷ polapperu nilaccel⟨2⟩viyuntaṉakkeyurimai pūṇṭamai maṉakkoḷakkāntaḷurccālai kalamaṟuttaruḷi veṅkaināṭuṅkaṅkapāṭiyu⟨3⟩nuḷampapāṭiyuntaṭikaipāṭiyuṅkuṭamalaināṭuṅkollamuṅkaliṅkamum Eṇṭicai pukaḻ taraviḻamaṇṭalamum tiṇṭiṟal veṉṟitta⟨4⟩ṇṭāṟkoṇṭa(tte)ḻil vaḷaruḻi Ellāyāṇṭum toḻuteḻa viḷaṅku yāṇṭe ceḻiñaraittecu koḷ śrīkovi⟨5⟩rājaIrājakecaripanmarā(ṉa) (śrī)Irājairājadevarkku yāṇṭu 2 10 1 Āvatu Alai puriyum puṉaṟpoṉṉi Āṟuṭaiya coḻaṉ ⟨6⟩ Arumoḻikku yāṇṭu Irupattoṉṟāvateṉṟuṅkalai puriyumatinipuṇaṉ veṇ kiḻāṉ ⟨7⟩ kaṇicc(e)kkaramarupoṟcūriyaṉṟaṉ nāmattāl vāmanilai ni(ṟṟa)kuṅ⟨8⟩kaliñciṭṭu nīmir vaiykai malaikku nīṭuḻi Iru maruṅum nel viḷaiya⟨9⟩kkaṇṭoṉ kulai puriyum paṭai Araicar koṇṭāṭum pātaṉ kuṇaviramāmunivaṉ ⟨10⟩ kuḷir vaiykaikkovey [||]

Apparatus

⟨3⟩ nuḷampapāṭiyun • An e seems to stand above yu.

⟨4⟩ koṇṭa(tte)ḻil • The two inscriptions No. 40 and No. 41 read taṉneḻil. — ⟨4⟩ toḻuteḻa viḷaṅku • The inscriptions No. 40 and No. 41 read toḻutaka viḷaṅkum.

⟨6⟩ puriyumatinipuṇaṉ • pu looks like yu.

Translation by Hultzsch 1890

Hail! Prosperity! In the 21st year of (the reign of) the illustrious Ko-Rāja-Rājakesarivarman,3 alias the illustrious Rājarāja-deva, who,—while both the goddess of fortune and the great goddess of the earth, who had become his exclusive property, gave him pleasure,—was pleased to build a jewel-like hall at Kāndaḷūr and conquered by his army, which was victorious in great battles, Veṅgai-nāḍu, Gaṅga-pāḍi, Nuḷamba-pāḍi, Taḍigai-pāḍi, Kuḍamalai-nāḍu, Kollam, Kaliṅgam and Īṛa-maṇḍalam, which is famed in the eight directions; who,—while his beauty was increasing, and while he was resplendent (to such an extent) that he was always worthy to be worshipped,—deprived the Śeṛiyas of their splendour,—and (in words) in the twenty-first year of Śoṛaṉ Arumoṛi, who possesses the river Poṉṉi, whose waters are full of waves,—Guṇavīramāmunivaṉ, whose feet are worshipped by kings of destructive armies, the lord (? ko) of the cool Vaigai,—having given a sluice,4 which is worthy of being preserved in a good state (and which is called) by the name of Gaṇiśekhara-Maru-Poṟchūriyaṉ, the pure master, who is skilled in the elegant arts and very clever,—saw the paddy grow for a long time on both sides of the high mountain of Vaigai (Vaigai-malai).5

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 1.66 by Hultzsch 1890 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1890. South-Indian inscriptions, Tamil and Sanskrit, from stone and copper-plate edicts at Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram, in the North Arcot district, and other parts of the Madras Presidency, chiefly collected in 1886-87. Volume I. South Indian Inscriptions 1. Madras: Government Press. Pages 94–95, item 66.

Notes

  1. 1. The same is the case in the large Leyden grant (Dr. Burgess’ Arch. Survey of S. India, Vol. IV, p. 210) and in an inscription published by S.M. Naṭeśa Śāstrī (Madras Christian College Magazine, Vol. V, p. 36), both of which are likewise dated in the twenty-first year.
  2. 2. Gaṇiśekhara means “the chief of (Jaina) teachers.” With Maru compare Marudeva (alias Nābhi) and Marudevī, the names of the parents of the Arhat Ṛishabha (Śatruṁjaya-māhātmya, iii, 7; Kalpasūtra, edited by Jacobi, p. 74, line 2). Poṟchūriyaṉ means “the golden sun.”
  3. 3. Instead of rāja, this inscription uses the Tamil form irāja, and consequently, instead of Ko-Rāja, which is found in the Māmallapuram inscriptions Nos. 40 and 41, the form Ko-v-irāja.
  4. 4. kaliñcu must be a corruption of kaliṅku which occurs in two other Tirumalai inscriptions (Nos. 69 and 77).
  5. 5. This seems to mean nothing but that he lived to an old age.