# Nallūr, Vilvāraṇyeśvara temple, time of Rājarāja, year 19

Renato Dávalos and Emmanuel Francis

Authors of digital edition: Renato Dávalos, Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00031

Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00031.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

Commit: 2026-11-09 18:23 (fbd1441), last modified 2026-10-19 18:42
(517aec7)

## Summary

It registers the gift of Nallūr and surrounding villages, consisting in
360 vēlis of land, as well as the revenue in taxes from these lands, for
the food offerings (tiruppaṭimāṟu) and the sacred service (tiruppaṇi).
The donor is the chieftain Āḷappiṟantāṉ Mōkaṉ, alias Kaṭavarāyaṉ.

## Palaeographic description

Consonants aligned horizontally rather than vertically in Grantha
ligature sva. No distinction between Tamil e and ē, o and ō.

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

## Edition

⟨1⟩ svasti śrī

rāja-rāja-de⟨2⟩(vaṟ)ku yāṇṭu 10 9 Āvatu

⟨3⟩ (Ā)ḷappiṟan=tā¡n!⟨ṉ⟩ mōkaṉ-āṉa kā⟨4⟩ṭavarāyaṉ-ēṉ nallūr Uṭai⟨5⟩yār
nalla-nāyaṉāṟku tiru-p-pa⟨6⟩ṇikkum tiru-p-paṭimāṟṟukkum ā⟨7⟩ka v-iṭṭaṉ

- nallūr Ellai Aṭa⟨8⟩(ṅ)ka n(i)lam munnūṟṟ’ aṟu-[patu vē]li⟨9⟩yum

- vaṭa-v-āṟṟaṅkarai-t tiru-nan=tava⟨10⟩ṉam 5 vēliyum

- kāccuva-k-kuṭi⟨11⟩yil nilam Ai-vē(l)iyum

- vali⟨12⟩y(ō)caiyil nilam muṉ(ṟu) ⟨13⟩ māvum

- puñcaṉūril nilam ²⁄₂₀

- ⟨14⟩ potu-k-kuṭi nilam ³⁄₂₀ (m)

- n¿i?⟨ī⟩kki⟨15⟩¡n!⟨ṉ⟩a nilam ¼ m

Āka In-nilaṅkaḷil

- pā⟨16⟩ṭi-kāva(l u)ḷḷiṭ=ṭa mākkalaṅkaḷum

- (maṟṟuḷ)⟨17⟩ḷa Ā[yaṅkaḷum]

- [It-tiru]vellaiy(il) (mā)[k]⟨18⟩kācu taṟi-(y)-[iṟai U]ṭpaṭ=ṭa kīḻ
  iṟai-p pāṭ[ṭa]⟨19⟩ṅkaḷu(m)

Aṭa[ṅka] nalla-nāya¡n!⟨ṉ⟩āruk[ku] ⟨20⟩ v-iṭṭēṉ

I(tu) [pa]nmāheśva(ra)-rakṣai

## Apparatus

⟨17⟩ Ā[yaṅkaḷum It-tiru]vēllaiy(il) (mā) [4+] • Reading based on ASI
transcript: Āyaṅkaḷum Ittiruvellaiyil mā [2+]

⟨18⟩ taṟi-(y)-[iṟai U]ṭpaṭ=ṭa • Reading after ASI transcript.

⟨19⟩ Aṭa[ṅka] • Reading after ASI transcript.

## Translation

⟨1⟩ Prosperity! Fortune!

⟨1–2⟩ 19th year of the king Rājarāja.[1]

⟨3–9⟩ I, Kāṭavarāyaṉ, alias Āḷappiṟantāṉ Mōkaṉ, have made this
endowment, for the sacred services (tiruppaṇi) and for the food
offerings (tiruppaṭimāṟu) to Nalla Nāyaṉār, Lord of Nallūr:

- three hundred sixty vēlis of land that comprise the boundaries of
  Nallūr;

- 5 vēlis of land of the sacred garden on the northern bank of the
  river;

- five vēlis of land for the Kāccuvakuṭi,[2]

- ³⁄₂₀ ⟨vēlis⟩ in Valiyōcai,[3]

- ²⁄₂₀ ⟨vēlis⟩ of land in Puñcaṉūr;[4]

- ³⁄₂₀ ⟨vēlis⟩ for the new tenants (potukkuṭi), and

- deducting (nīkki) ¼ ⟨vēli⟩ of land.

I have granted for the deity Nalla-Nāyaṉār, ⟨the taxes⟩ that are
included within these lands:

- mākkalam taxes[5], including the due for safeguarding the lands
  (pāṭikāval).

- other dues (maṟṟuḷḷa āyaṅkaḷ),

- the minor cesses (kīḻ-iṟai-p-pāṭṭam), including the tax on loom
  (taṟi-iṟai) and the mākkācu[6] levy in this sacred border
  (ittiruvelaiyil).

This is under the protection of the paṉmaheśvaras.

## Commentary

Āḷappiṟantāṉ Mōkaṉ, also known as Kaṭavarāyaṉ, was a chieftain during
the reign of Rājarāja II, which would place this record at approximately
1169 CE. However, this dating would predate the earliest record (ca.
1184 CE) attested at the site (cf. INSTamilNadu00036). Given the fact
that another inscription from the 34th regnal year of Kuloṭṭuṅga III
(INSTamilNadu00032) explicitly recapitulates the present endowment, it
may be suggested that may be a silent copy of an earlier record.

## Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1939–43 (ARIE/1939-1943/B/1940-1941/145).

This edition by Renato Dávalos, Emmanuel Francis, and Margherita Trento,
based on autopsy, photos (E. Francis, 2024), and ASI transcript.

ASI transcript consulted in Mysore by Renato Dávalos and Margherita
Trento (September 2025) with the kind permission of the Director of
Epigraphy.

### Secondary

ARIE 1939–43. Annual reports on South Indian epigraphy for the years
1939-40 to 1942-43. Edited by C. R. Krishnamacharlu & N. Laksminarayan
Rao. Delhi: Government of India, 1952. Page 92, item 145, appendixes
B/1940-1941.

[1] Rājarāja II Cōḻa.

[2] The village is nowadays called Kaccakuṭi.

[3] The village is nowadays called Valacai.

[4] The village is called nowadays Piñcaṉūr. These three villages are
contiguous to Nallūr.

[5] Probably a kind of tax that was paid at a specified rate of kalam of
paddy per mā of land.

[6] Probably a kind of tax that was paid at a rate of certain amount of
gold coins (kācu) per mā of land.