SII 2.72: original edition by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch

Alternative title: “II. INSCRIPTIONS OF THE PALLAVA DYNASTY. No. 72. CAVE INSCRIPTION AT VALLAM.”

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

Summary: The rock-cut Śaiva shrine at Vallam near Chingleput1 bears two Tamil inscriptions. One of them, which belongs to the 13th century A.D., is engraved on the lower portion of the right door-pillar.2 It records the gift of a lamp in the 14th year of Sakalabhuvanachakravartin Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva3 (i.e., Kō-Perum-Siṁhadēva) to the temple of Vayandīśura (i.e., Vasantēśvara) at Vallam in Valla-nāḍu, (a subdivision) of Kaḷattūr-kōṭṭam.4 The second, very archaic inscription is engraved on the upper portions of both door-pillars and records that the temple was built by Skandasēna, the son of Vasantapriyarāja, who was a vassal of Mahēndrapōtarāja. From the later inscription of Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva, it follows further that Skandasēna called the temple Vasantēśvara after his father Vasanta. Mahēndrapōtarāja, whose vassal Vasanta professes to be, must have been a Pallava king. This is already suggested by the first part of his name, which occurs twice in the list of the Pallavas, as far as it is known (Vol. I, p. 11). The second part of the king’s name, Pōtarāja,5 forms part of Īśvarapōtarāja,6 as the Pallava king Paramēśvaravarman I. is called in a grant of Vikramāditya I. (Vol. I, p. 145), and of Nandipōtarāja,7 which is used as an equivalent of Nandivarman in the Kaśākūḍi plates (No. 73 below, line 90). Finally, the birudas which the king receives in the Vallam cave-inscription, have their parallels in other Pallava inscriptions. With Lalitāṅkura compare Lalita and Nayāṅkura in the Dharmarāja Ratha inscriptions (Vol. I, p. 3). Śatrumalla and Guṇabhara occur also in the two cave-inscriptions on the Trichinopoly rock (Vol. I, p. 29). Though birudas are a somewhat unsafe basis for identification, it may be provisionally assumed that both the Trichinopoly cave-inscriptions of Guṇabhara, alias Śatrumalla, and the Vallam cave-inscription of Mahēndrapōtarāja belong to one of the two Pallava kings called Mahēndravarman, i.e., to the first half of the seventh century of our era.8

Language: Tamil (tam).

Version: (3992bd7), last modified (0ec4724).

Edition

A. On the left pillar.

⟨1⟩ pakāppiṭuku laḷitāṅkuraṉ

B. On the right pillar.

⟨2⟩ catturummallaṉ kuṇaparaṉ

⟨3⟩ mayentirappottarecaru Aṭiyāṉ

⟨4⟩ vayantappiriArecaru makaṉ kantaceṉa-

⟨5⟩ ṉ ceyivitta tevakulam [||]

Translation by Hultzsch 1895

Kandaśēṉaṉ (Skandasēna), the son of Vayandappiriareśaru (Vasantapriyarāja), the servant of Pagāppiḍugu9 Laḷidāṅguraṉ (Lalitāṅkura) Śatturummallaṉ (Śatrumalla) Kuṇabaraṉ (Guṇabhara) Mayēndirappōttareśaru (Mahēndrapōtarāja), caused (this) temple (dēvakula) to be made.

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 2.72 by Hultzsch 1895 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1895. South-Indian inscriptions: Tamil inscriptions of Rajaraja, Rajendra-chola, and others in the Rajarajesvara temple at Tanjavur. Volume II, Part III: Supplement to the first and second volumes. South Indian Inscriptions 2.3. Madras: Government Press. Pages 340–341, item 72.

Notes

  1. 1. Mr. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I, p. 191.

  2. 2. This inscription (No. 186 of 1892), opens as follows:— [1.] cakalapu[va]ṉacca[k*]kara- [2.] vattikaḷ [śrī]k[o*]- [3.] pperuñciṅka- [4.] tevarkku yāṇṭu [5.] 10 4[Āvatu] ka[ḷa]ttūr- [6.] kko[ṭ]ṭattu vallanāṭṭu valla- [7.] [t]tu Uṭaiy[ā*]r tiruvayanticuramu[ṭai]- [8.] [ya] nāyaṉāṟku . . . . . . . . .

  3. 3. This king ascended the throne about Śaka 1165-66, as may be concluded from an inscription on the east wall of the Abhishēkamaṇḍapa in the Aruḷāḷa-Perumāḷ temple at Little Kāñchī (No. 38 of 1890), which begins thus:— svasti śrī śakābdaM Āyirattorunūṟṟu Eṇpattiraṇṭiṉ mel cellāniṉṟa cakalapuvaṉaccakkaravattikaḷ śrīkopperuñciṅ[kat]evaṟku yāṇṭu 10 8[Āvatu] vṛiścika-nāyaṟṟu Aparapakṣattu daśamiyum nā[yi]ṟṟukkiḻamaiyu[m]: “Hail ! Prosperity ! On Sunday, the tenth tithi of the second fortnight of the month of Vṛiśchika in the 18th year (of the reign) of Sakalabhuvana-chakravartin Śrī-Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva, which was current after the Śaka year 1182.” The remainder of the date is built in. Other inscriptions of Kōpperuñjiṅgadēva are found at Chidambaram (Madras G.O., 27th July 1888, No. 745, Public, p. 5), at Tiruviḍaimarudūr (No. 135 of 1895), and at Drākshārāma (No. 419 of 1893).

  4. 4. This district is the 20th in Mr. Crole’s list, Chingleput Manual, p. 439. It owes its name to Kaḷattūr, now a large village after which the next Railway station south of Chingleput is called; see Ind. Ant., Vol. XXI, p. 197, note 1. Tirukkarukkuṉṟam was situated in Kaḷattūr-kōṭṭam; see Ep. Ind., Vol. III, p. 279.

  5. 5. Pōta in Sanskrit and pōttu in Tamil mean ‘the sprout (of a plant)’ and are thus synonymous with pallava, ‘a sprout,’ from which the Amarāvatī pillar inscription (Vol. I, No. 32, verse 8) and the Kaśākūḍi plates (No. 73 below, verse 17) derive the name of Pallava, the supposed ancestor of the Pallava dynasty.

  6. 6. In the Kaśākūḍi plates (No. 73 below), both the first and second Paramēśvaravarman are called Paramēśvarapōtavarman.

  7. 7. Compare Nandipōtavarman and Narasiṁhapōtavarman in the Vakkalēri plates, Vol. I, p. 146. Mr. Venkayya has published a Kāñchī inscription of the 18th year of Nandippōttaraiyar (Madras Christian College Magazine for August 1890), and a Chōḷa inscription at Tirukkaṛukkuṉṟam, which refers to Vātāpi- koṇḍa Naraśiṅgappōttaraiyar, i.e., Narasiṁhavarman I., the conqueror of Vātāpi (Ep. Ind., Vol. III, p. 277).

  8. 8. Since this was written, Mr. Venkayya has shown, on the basis of certain facts reported in the Periya-purāṇam, that the Mahēndrapōtarāja of the Vallam inscription is probably identical with Mahēndravarman I.; see Ep. Ind., Vol. III, p. 277 f.

  9. 9. I.e., ‘the thunderbolt which cannot be split.’ The second member of this biruda is the Telugu-Kanarese piḍugu, ‘a thunderbolt.’ Compare the village name Māṟapiḍugudēvi-chaturvēdimaṅgalam (No. 69, paragraph 103, and No. 70, paragraph 92), and Ka[ḍu]mbiḍuguśēri, the name of a quarter of Māmallapuram (Vol. I, p. 66).