Tiruvannamalai: A Tamil inscription datable to the 10 CE, the second regnal year of the imperial Chola King, Raja Raja Cholan, has been recently spotted at Erumbur village near Vandavasi in Tiruvannamalai district.
The Tamil inscription on a piece of rock near the Ganesh temple in the village was noticed by a local history teacher K Selvakumar. Based on his information, a team from the Tiruvannamalai district historical research centre including Thiru S Balamurugan, T M Prakash, Prof Sudhakar, Gunavazhagan, and village administrative officer Rajesh, visited the spot and studied the inscription.
According to them, the inscription is datable to the period of Raja Raja Cholan. It mentions that the village ‘Erumbur’ of Vennkundra Kottam (division in modern parlance) was generously gifted with 45 goats by one Nakkan Maathaaniyan.
In the same village, in the Lord Shiva temple there, the team members found another inscription datable to the 15 CE. It mentions the name of Lord Shiva at Erumbur as Peerameesuraudayar and his consort’s name (Goddess Parvathi) as Kamakottamudaiya Periya Naachiyaar. It also mentions that one Kannaaramutha Bhattan looked after the upkeep of the temple and its daily religious rituals. The inscription also mentions the name of one Paazhinaattan who also made an endowment to the temple.
There is also a temple for Lord Maha Vishnu in the village, where an unfinished inscription is seen. During the temple renovation it was shifted. That stone inscription speaks of one Sivabrahmanan who was donated ‘Pathinaaru Panam (16 monetary coins)’ as an endowment to meet the daily needs of the temple.
The team members said these inscriptions show that ‘Erumbur’ village has been in continuous existence right from the imperial Chola King Raja Raja Chola's time in 10th century, up to the Nayak period and beyond, as inscriptions of different periods are found there. It shows that 'Erumbur' could have been a 'historically significant place' to find a mention across centuries in various inscriptions, they said. The team members said that renovation of the temples should be done with care and sensitivity, with the guidance of archaeological and HR and CE experts, without defacing the inscriptions.
