The Hindu : National : 997 A.D. stone inscriptions found in Tamil Nadu

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Sunday, Jul 04, 2004

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997 A.D. stone inscriptions found in Tamil Nadu

By T. S. Subramanian

The outlet stone with the Sanskrit inscription in Grantha letters found in the lake at Madakkulam near Srivilliputhur, Tamil Nadu. The inscription belongs to the period of Chola king Raja Raja I. _ Photo: ASI, Chennai Circle

CHENNAI, JULY 3. Bilingual inscriptions in Tamil `vatteluttu' and Sanskrit in Grantha letters engraved on an outlet stone of a big lake has been found at Madakkulam village near Srivilliputhur town of Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district. The inscriptions were made during the reign of the Chola King, Raja Raja I, and is dated in the 12th year of his reign (997 A.D.). He ascended the throne in 985 A.D.

It was Raja Raja Chola who built the Big Temple at Thanjavur.

The inscription is about the process of water distribution from the lake. The Tamil `vatteluttu' inscription is in concentric circles on the top surface of theoutlet stone while the Sanskrit inscription is in verse form on the other four sides.

The Sanskrit inscription ends on the side where there is an engraving of Ganesha seated on a lotus with a long stem.

The outlet in the lake is circular and the stone is erected in the middle. The outlet structure has seven channels through which water can be let out in equal measure. A sluice stone with an inscription in Sanskrit, also of the same period, was found but the inscription is faded and illegible.

The outlet stone was found by M.S.D. Radharamanan and M. Venkatesan, who are the president and the secretary of the Historical Exploration Centre of Virudhunagar district.

They brought it to the notice of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Chennai Circle.

The `vatteluttu' inscription mentions the king's name as "Kovi Rajakesari," identified as Raja Raja. I.S. Rajavelu, Epigraphist, ASI, Chennai Circle, said it spoke about `yaandu panirendu' (the 12th year of his reign).

The inscription mentioned `perumadai' (in Tamil), which means a big lake, and elaborates on the process of water distribution from the lake.

The outlet had seven channels leading from it and the water from the lake would irrigate fields in seven different directions.

T. Satyamurthy, the Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, Chennai Circle, said the Sanksrit inscription began with a `mangala sloka' with `swastisri vesmasri.' It praised the donor of the outlet.

The inscriptions were important for studying the irrigation techniques of the period. Such irrigation tanks, fed by rains, were found in the southern districts of Tamil Nadu such as Pudukottai, Madurai, Virudhunagar and Ramanathapuram. They had sluice and outlet stones.

A number of sluice stones with inscriptions have been found in Tamil Nadu, and they belonged to the early Pandya period, the Pallavas of the sixth century A.D. and the Vijayanagara period.

Mr. Rajavelu said the technique of water distribution from the circular outlet through seven channels in equal measure to the fields made the Madakkulam tank special.

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