The Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, an association of amateur archaeologists, has discovered 13th century stone inscriptions from a ruined Shiva temple at Manjur near Thiruvadanai in the district. The inscriptions throw light on devotees donating land and gold for lighting ‘perpetual lamps’ in the temple.
Based on information provided by Moorthi, a local resident, Foundation president V. Rajaguru, a government school teacher, and his colleagues conducted field exploration recently and found the inscriptions in the ruined temple. A study on the inscriptions after estampage revealed that they belonged to the later Pandya dynasty period, Mr. Rajaguru said.
He said while two inscriptions belonged to Maravarman Kulashekara Pandyan I, two others belonged to Jadavarman Srivallaba and Maravarman Vikrama Pandyan. One was a government order issued during the 13th century.
Reading of the inscriptions revealed that devotees had donated land, gold coins and paddy as gifts to the temple for installing self-illuminating perpetual lamps, he said.
According to the inscriptions, a devotee, during the Maravarnan Kulashekara Pandyan I ‘regnal year’, had donated gold coins for the lamps and for the muppadhu vattathu Shiva Brahmins who performed pujas in the temple, he said. The inscription also revealed that devotees had donated tax-free lands on lease for the lamps.
Named after a plant
The names of lands were mentioned as abbi vetti and virala purali, the weighing units of gold as pon ettarai, kazhanchey, manchadi and maa and land area measurements as munthirikai, mukkani and maavarai, he said.
The inscriptions also described the ancient temple in the village, which had a compound wall, a sanctum sanctorum, an arthamandapa and a mahamandapa. The now ruined temple could have been built during the Chola period in the 10th or 11th century, Mr. Rajaguru said.
The presiding deity in the temple was mentioned as Thiruvarakareeswaramudiya Nayanar, he said.
The name of the village was mentioned in the inscriptions as Manjil alias Manamanickanallur, and the village, named after Manjil, a herbal plant (Nardostachys Jatamansi), could have later become Manjur, he said.
Foundation secretary S. Gnanakalimuthu and Coordinator M. Vimal Raj were also involved in the exploration.