800-year-old Pandya-era inscription found in Ramnad

MADURAI: An 800-year-old Pandya-era inscription was discovered by the Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation in Ranabali Murugan temple, which was built during the period of Sethupathi King, at Peruvayal near Devipattinam in Ramanathapuram district.

Much to his amazement, V Rajaguru, president of the Foundation, found a five-line fragmentary inscription on the pillar of the Murugan temple at Peruvayal.

The temple was built during the reign of Kattayathevar alias Kumaramuthu Vijaya Raghunatha Sethupathi (1728-1735 AD) by his minister Vairavan Servaikarar. There is an inscription which refers to how Kumaramuthu Sethupathi donated Peruvayal Kalayanur village to the temple in 1736 AD.

The newly discovered inscription is in the pillar pothika in the northwest corner of the temple Prakaram. The Perumanalur minister Raman alias Pallavarayan mentioned in the inscription was a royal official during the reign of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I. His name is mentioned in the inscriptions of Narikudi, Thiruthangal and Eenjar temples in Virudhunagar district. The inscription is 800 years old and belongs to the period of Maravarman Sundara Pandyan I (1216-1244 AD). It mentions the donation to the temple during the Pandya period. It also mentions a tax called ‘Sandhi Vigrakaperu’, Rajaguru said on Monday.

Pothika is an extended arm that connects the top of the pillar to the beam. The pillars built during the periods of Pandya, Nayak and Sethupathi kings were adorned with different types of Pothikas. The structure of the ‘Vettu Pothika’, in which the inscription was found, belongs to the Pandya period, archaeologists say.

The temple Prakaram was built by combining the Vettu Pothikas of the Pandya period with the granite pillars of the Sethupathi period. He said that the Vettu Pothika stones might have been brought from a Pandya period Siva temple from this place.