# SII 3.91: original edition by H. Krishna Sastri

Emmanuel Francis

Alternative title: X.—INSCRIPTIONS OF THE TIME OF RAJAKESARIVARMAN
ADITYA I. No. 91.—ON A PILLAR LYING IN THE MANDAPA IN A STREET AT
TIRUNAGESVARAM. No. 222 of 1911

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSSIIv03p0i0091

Repository: SII original (south-indian-inscriptions)

File path: SII_B_clean/SII03/DHARMA_INSSIIv03p0i0091.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

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

## Summary

This is a record, in archaic characters, of Rājakēsarivarman (perhaps
Āditya I.) dated in his 2nd year. It registers gifts made by the
merchants (nagarattār) of Kumaramārtāṇḍapuram to meet the cost of
repairs to the enclosure (called) Maunakumaramārtāṇḍaṉ and the gōpura of
Milāḍuḍaiyārpaḷḷi. From No. 199 of the Madras Epigraphical collection
for 1907 it appears that Kumaramārtāṇḍaṉ was a surname of the Pallava
king Nandippōttaraiyar. In the word Milāḍuḍaiyārpaḷḷi we may have a
possible reference to the Śaiva saint Meypporuṇāyaṉār also called
Milāḍuḍaiyār. As the usual imprecation paṉmāheśvararakṣai does not occur
at the end of the inscription, it is much more probable that
Milāḍuḍaiyārpaḷḷi was a Jaina temple than a Śaiva shrine called after
Milāḍuḍaiyār.

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī [∥] ko Irāca⟨2⟩kecariparma⟨r⟩kku yāṇ⟨3⟩ṭu Iraṇṭāvatu
teṉ⟨4⟩karait tiraimur¿t?⟨n⟩āṭṭu⟨5⟩k kumaramāttāṇṭapu⟨6⟩rattu
perunakaratto⟨7⟩m Ivvūr milāṭuṭaiyā⟨8⟩rpaḷḷiyil Eṅkaḷ
me⟨9⟩(ḷa)ṉakumaramāttāṇṭaṉā⟨10⟩ṉa (ti)ruccuṟṟālaikkuṅ ⟨11⟩ kopurattukkum
putu⟨12⟩kkuppuṟamāka Ippa(ḷ)ḷi⟨13⟩yiṉ kiḻai nantavāṉa⟨14⟩ttukkum melai
nanta⟨15⟩vāṉattukkumāka nakara⟨16⟩ttoṅ koḷḷum vārā⟨17⟩vaikal Āṇṭaṭuttu
⟨18⟩ koḷvatu Ittiruccuṟṟā⟨19⟩laikkuṅ kopurattukku⟨20⟩(m)
putukkuppuṟamāka naka⟨21⟩ra Anuccaiyāl vai⟨22⟩ttukkuṭuttom [∥]
Iv⟨23⟩vārāvai{y}kal koḷ⟨24⟩kaveṉṟu nakaratto⟨25⟩māka taṉi [4+] ṉāka
(co)⟨26⟩ṉṉāṉ¿e?⟨ai⟩ Ippaḷḷi Uṭai⟨27⟩yo{m}mava{(ṉ)}ṉe tāṉ ve⟨28⟩ṇṭu
kaḷattu tāṉ veṇ⟨29⟩ṭu poṉ maṟaiyili ma⟨30⟩ṉṟapperuvatākavum
ka⟨31⟩ṅkaikkarai Āy¿a?⟨i⟩raṅ kurā⟨32⟩lākkoṉṟāṉ pāvaṅ k(o)⟨33⟩ḷvatākavum
Ipparicu can⟨34⟩tirātittavaṟ vaittukku⟨35⟩ṭuttom
kumaramāttāṇ⟨36⟩ṭapurattu perunakarattom[∥]

## Apparatus

⟨25⟩ taṉi [4+] • The gap may be filled up with the letters ppuruṣa.

## Translation by Krishna Sastri 1920

(Line 1.) Hail ! Prosperity ! In the 2nd year of (the reign of) king
Rājakēsarivarman, we, the great merchants (nagarattōm) of
Kumaramārtāṇḍapuram in Tiraimūr-nāḍu on the southern bank (of the Kāvērī
river), assigned and gave, with the consent of the guild, the income of
every alternate year from the collection (vārāvaigal) which we, the
merchants, are receiving on account of the flower gardens on the eastern
and western sides of this paḷḷi (temple), for the benefit of the repairs
(pudukkuppuṟam) to the sacred enclosure called Maunakumaramārtāṇḍaṉ and
the gōpura of ours (i.e., built by us) in (the temple) Milāḍuḍaiyārpaḷḷi
in this village[1] .

(L. 22.) Should we, as a guild or a single individual (of the guild),
propose to appropriate these collections (presented to the temple), the
person among us[2] who is (then) in charge of this paḷḷi (temple) might
levy any (fine of) gold himself and realize (it) from him openly at any
place he likes; besides, (the culprit) shall incur the sin of one who
kills one thousand tawny cows on the banks of the Gaṅgā. We, the great
merchants of Kumaramārtāṇḍapuram, have thus assigned and given (the
above-mentioned gift) to last as long as the moon and the sun (endure).

## Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 3.91 by Krishna Sastri 1920 converted to DHARMA
conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

### Primary

[SII] Krishna Sastri, H. 1920. South-Indian inscriptions. Volume III:
Miscellaneous inscriptions from the Tamil country. Part III:
Inscriptions of Aditya I, Parantaka I, Madiraikonda, Rajakesarivarman,
Parantaka II, Uttama-Chola, Parthivendravarman and Aditya-Karikala and
the Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra-Chola I. South Indian Inscriptions
3.3. Madras: Government Press. Pages 223–224, item 91.

[1] In lines 18 to 20 the phrase ittiruccuṟṟālaikkuṅ kopurattukkum
putukkuppuṟamāka repeats the object of the grant unnecessarily.
Consequently the phrase is not translated.

[2] The use of the words ippaḷḷiyuṭaiyomavaṉē in the peculiar sense
given above suggests that while the body of merchants were the actual
owners of the temple (see also 1.8), one of them was in direct charge of
it.