# SII 3.17: original edition by Eugen Julius Theodor Hultzsch

Emmanuel Francis

Alternative title: II.—INSCRIPTIONS AT MELPADI. No. 17.—ON THE NORTH
WALL OF THE CHOLESVARA SHRINE

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv03p0i0017

Repository: SII original (south-indian-inscriptions)

File path: SII_B_clean/SII03/DHARMA_INSSIIv03p0i0017.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

Commit: 2026-11-14 15:07 (85a1dec), last modified 2026-09-29 11:08
(2b36d53)

## Summary

This inscription is written in beautiful florid characters, resembling
those of the large Leyden grant, but mixed with letters of the usual
type, especially after line 12. It is dated in the same year as Nos. 15
and 16, and records the grant of a lamp to the Aṟiñjīśvara temple at
Mēṟpāḍi.

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [∥] tirumakaḷ
polapperunilaccelviyun=ta⟨2⟩ṉa(k=k)eyu(ri)mai pūṇṭamai
maṉak=koḷk=kān=ta(ḷū)rccā⟨3⟩(lai) kalamaṟuttaruḷi
veṅkaināṭuṅkaṅkapāṭiyum
nuḷam(pa)⟨4⟩(p)āṭiyun=taṭikaipāṭiyuṅkuṭamalaināṭuṅkollamuṅkaliṅkamum ⟨5⟩
Eṇṭicai pukaḻ
taravīḻamaṇṭalamumiraṭṭapāṭiyeḻaraiyilakkamun=tiṇ(ṭi)⟨6⟩ṟal
veṉṟittaṇṭāṟkoṇṭa taṉṉeḻil vaḷar¿avu?⟨ū⟩ḻiyellā⟨7⟩yāṇṭun=toḻutakai
viḷaṅkum yāṇṭe ceḻiyaraittecu ko⟨8⟩ḷ śrīko rājarājarājakesarivarmmarāṉa
śrīrājarājadevaṟku yāṇ(ṭu) ⟨9⟩ (2 10) 9 Āvatu
jayaṅkoṇṭacoḻamaṇṭalattupperumpāṇap(p)āṭittūñāṭ(ṭu) ⟨10⟩ meṟpāṭiyāṉa
rājāśrayapurattu Āṟṟūrttuñciṉa devaṟkuppaḷḷipaṭai⟨11⟩(y)āka Uṭaiyār
śrīrājarājadevar Eṭuppittaruḷiṉa tiruvaṟiñc¿i?⟨ī⟩śvarattu ⟨12⟩
mahādevaṟku veṇkuṉṟakkoṭṭattu maruta⟨n⟩āṭṭu veḷḷāḷaṉ Aruvāk⟨13⟩(kīḻāḷ)
muttikaṇṭaṉeṉ vaitta tiruna⟨n⟩tāviḷak=ku Oṉṟiṉuk=ku ⟨14⟩ (v)ai(t)ta cāvā
m¿u?⟨ū⟩vāpperāṭu toṇṇūṟṟāṟuṅkaikkoṇṭu ⟨15⟩ ni(catam) Uḻakku ney
rājakecariyāl can=tirātittavaṟ Aṭ(ṭu)⟨va⟩tāneṉ Irā(jā)śrayapurattu ⟨16⟩
(Iṭ)ai(ya)n Eṇi keṅkātiraneṉ [∥]

## Translation by Hultzsch 1899

(Line 1.) Hail ! Prosperity ! In the 29th year (of the reign) of the
glorious king Rājarāja-Rājakēsarivarman, alias Śrī-Rājarājadēva, who,
etc.,[1] —I, the cultivator (Veḷḷāḷaṉ) Aruvā-[Kīḻāḷ] Muttigaṇḍaṉ of
Marud[a-n]āḍu in Veṇkuṉṟa-kōṭṭam, gave one perpetual lamp to (the god)
Mahādēva of the holy Aṟiñjīśvara (temple),—which the lord
Śrī-Rājarājadēva had been pleased to build as a resting-place for the
king who fell asleep at Āṟṟūr, in Mēṟpāḍi, alias Rājāśrayapuram, (a
city) in Tūñāḍu, (a subdivision) of Perumbāṇa-pāḍi in
Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śōḻa-maṇḍalam,—(and) assigned to (this lamp) ninety-six
full-grown ewes, which must neither die nor grow old.[2]

(L. 14.) Having received (these ewes), I, the shepherd Ēṇi Gaṅgādharaṉ
of Rājāśrayapuram, shall pour out daily, as long as the moon and the sun
endure, (one) uḻakku of ghee, (measured) by the Rājakēsari).

## Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 3.17 by Hultzsch 1899 converted to DHARMA
conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

### Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1899. South-Indian inscriptions.
Volume III: Miscellaneous inscriptions from the Tamil country. Part I:
Inscriptions at Ukkal, Melpadi, Karuvur, Manimangalam and Tiruvallam.
South Indian Inscriptions 3.1. Madras: Government Press. Pages 26–27,
item 17, plate IV.

[1] The historical introduction of this inscription is identical with
that of No. 15; it reads, however, taṭikaipāṭi (l. 4), while Nos. 15 and
16 have taṭīkapāṭi.

[2] Compare Vol. II. p. 375, note 3.