This inscription is dated in the 12th year of Ko-Parakesarivarman, alias Uḍaiyār Rājendra-Choḷa-deva. It opens with a long list of the countries which the king had conquered. Among these we find “the seven and a half lakshas (of revenue) of Iraṭṭapāḍi,” which Rājendra-Choḷa took from Jayasiṁha. This conquest must have taken place between his 7th and 10th years, as another of Rājendra-Choḷa's inscriptions, which is dated in his 7th year,Madras Christian College Magazine, Vol. V, p. 41.Navanedikkula (?)” took also place between the 7th and 10th years, but subsequently to the war against Jayasiṁha.Jayasiṁha of the present inscription can be no other than the Western Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III. (about Śaka 940 to about 964), who, according to the Miraj grant, “warred against the Chola,”Ind. Ant. Vol. VIII, p. 18.Rājendra-Choḷa.”Rājendra-Choḷa-gaja-mṛigarāja; Ind. Ant. Vol. V, p. 15, lines 13 f. Mr. Rice's Mysore Inscriptions, p. 149.lakshas. of Iraṭṭapāḍi” have to be taken as a designation of the Chalukyan empire,Seven Pagodas, pp. 138 ff.Chalukya grants, is called “the Dekhan which yields seven and a half lakshas.”Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV, p. 51, line 29.Rājendra-Choḷa and Jayasiṁha III. boast of having conquered the other, it must be assumed that either the success was on both sides alternately, or that neither of the two obtained a lasting advantage. If, in order to identify Rājendra-Choḷa, the enemy of Jayasiṁha III., we turn to the table of the Eastern Chalukya Dynasty, which is found on page 32, above, we find that he cannot be that Rājendra-Choḍa, who reigned from Śaka 985 to 1034. Undoubtedly, the enemy of Jayasiṁha III. was that Rājendra-Choḍa of the Sūryavaṁśa, whose daughter Ammaṅga-devī was married to the Eastern Chalukya king Rājarāja I.Rājendra-Choḍa, who was the son of Rājarāja of the Sūryavaṁśa, and whose younger sister Kūndavā was married to the Eastern Chalukya king VimalādityaInd. Ant. Vol. XIV, p. 50.Rājarāja-deva, whose time I have tried to fix in the introduction of No. 40, above. Rājendra-Choḷa's name occurs also on the seal of the large Leyden grant, and he is in all probability identical with the Madhurāntaka, i.e., “the destroyer of Madura,” who issued that grant after the death of his father Rājarāja.Arch. Survey of S. India, Vol. IV, p. 208.
Among the other countries, which Rājendra-Choḷa is said to have conquered, the two first in the list are Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu, i.e., the country of Eḍatore, the head-quarters of a tālluqa in the Maisūr District, and Vaṉavāśi, i.e., Banawāsi in the North Kanara District of the Bombay Presidency. With Koḷḷippākkai compare Kollipāke, which, according to Mr. Fleet,Kanarese Dynasties, p. 44.Chālukya king Jayasiṁha III. Īṛam or Īṛa-maṇḍalam is Ceylon. “The king of the South” (Teṉṉavaṉ) is the Pāṇḍya king. Of him the inscription says, that he had formerly given the crown of Sundara to the king of Ceylon, from whom Rājendra-Choḷa took that crown of Sundara. The name Sundara occurs in the traditional lists of Pāṇḍya kings.Lists of Antiquities, Vol. II, pp. 218 ff. Dr. Caldwell's Comparative Grammar, pp. 139 ff. of the Introduction and pp. 535 ff.Sundara” seems to be used in the sense of “the crown of the Pāṇḍya king,” and the composer of the historical part of the inscription seems to have known Sundara as a former famous member of the Pāṇḍya dynasty. But no conclusions as to the date of Sundara can be drawn from this mention of his name. The names of the Pāṇḍya king, who was conquered by the king of Ceylon, and of the king of Ceylon, who was conquered by Rājendra-Choḷa, are not mentioned. The inscription further records that Rājendra-Choḷa vanquished the Keraḷa, i.e., the king of Malabar. With Śakkara-koṭṭam, whose king Vikrama-Vīra was defeated by Rājendra-Choḷa, compare Chakrakoṭa, whose lord was conquered by the Western Chālukya king Vikramāditya VI.,Vikramāṅkacharita, sarga iv, verse 30.Chakragoṭṭa, which was taken by the Hoysaḷa king Vishṇuvardhana. Mr. Fleet's is the
The inscription mentions Tirumalai, i.e., “the holy mountain,” and records a gift to the temple on its top, which was called Kundavai-Jinālaya, i.e., the Jina temple of Kundavai. According to an Eastern Chalukya grantInd. Ant. Vol. XIV, p. 53, lines 60 f.Progress Report for February, March and April 1888, Madras G.O., 27th July 1888, No. 745, Public.Kūndavā (or Kundavai) was the name of the daughter of Rājarāja of the Sūryavaṁśa, the younger sister of Rājendra-Choḷa, and the queen of the Eastern Chalukya king Vimalāditya. The Tanjore inscriptions mention another, still earlier Kundavai, who was the daughter of the Choḷa king Parāntaka II., the elder sister of the Choḷa king Rājarāja-deva, and the queen of the Pallava king Vandyadeva.Progress Report for July, August and September 1888, Madras G.O., 7th November 1888, No. 1050, Public.viz., either the younger sister or the aunt of the then reigning sovereign Rājendra-Choḷa, who founded the temple on the top of the Tirumalai Rock and called it after herself. As Tirumalai is much closer to the Pallava country, than to the country of the Eastern Chalukyas, we shall scarcely be wrong in attributing the foundation of the temple rather to the king's aunt, who was a Pallava queen, than to his younger sister, who was married to an Eastern Chalukya king.
According to this and the next inscription, the village at the foot of the Tirumalai Hill bore the name of Vaigavūr and belonged to Mugai-nāḍu, a division of Paṅgaḷanāḍu, which formed part of Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Choḷa-maṇḍalam.
With the text of the subjoined inscription, I have compared four other inscriptions of Rājendra-Choḷa, viz., 1. the inscription No. 68, which is likewise dated in the 12th year; 2. an undated inscription of the Kailāsanātha Temple at Uttaramallūr in the Chingleput District, an impression of which I owe to the kindness of Mr. R.Sewell; 3. an inscription of the Bṛihadīśvara Temple at Tanjore (15th year); and 4. an inscription of the Chidambaram Temple (24th year).
svasti śrī
ṟaināṭuntuṭar vaṉavelippaṭar vaṉavāciyuñcuḷḷiccūḻ matiṭkoḷḷippākkaiyunaṇṇaṟkaru muraṇ maṇṇaikkaṭakkamum poru kaṭal Īḻattaracar tamuṭiyum Āṅka
var teviyaroṅkeḻiṉmuṭiyumuṉṉavar pa
muṟaimaiyiṟcūṭuṅkulataṉamākiya palar pukaḻ muṭiyuñceṅkatir mālaiyuñcaṅkatir velaittol peruṅkāvaṟpala paḻantivuñceruviṟceṉa
vil Irupattoru kālaraicukaḷai kaṭṭa paracurāmaṉ mevaruñcāntimattivavaraṇ karuti Iruttiya cem poṟṟiruttaku muṭiyum payaṅkoṭu paḻi mika mucaṅkiyil mu
tukiṭṭoḷitta cayaciṅkaṉ Aḷapperum pukaḻoṭum pīṭiyal Iraṭṭapāṭi Eḻarai Ilakkamunavanetikkulapperumalaikaḷum vikkiramavīrar cakkarakoṭṭamu
mutirapaṭavallai maturamaṇṭalamum kāmiṭaivaḷaiyanāmaṇaikkoṇamum veñcilaivīrar pañcappaḷḷiyum pācuṭaippaḻanaṉmācuṇitecamum Ayarvi
l vaṇ kirttiyātinakaravaiyiṟcan=tiraṉṟol kulattirataraṉai viḷaiyamarkkaḷattukkiḷaiyoṭum pi
yuñciṭṭaruñceṣaiyamum pūcurar cer nalkkocalaināṭun=taṉmapālaṉai vem muṉaiyaḻittu vaṇṭuṟai colaittaṇṭayuttiyumiraṇa
cūraṉai muraṇuṟattākkittikkaṇai kirttittakkaṇalāṭamuṅkovin=tacan=taṉ māviḻin=toṭattaṅkāta cāral vaṅkāḷatecamun=toṭu kaṭaṟcaṅkukoṭṭaṉ mahīpālaṉai
veñcama vaḷākattañcuvittaruḷi Oṇṭiṟal yāṉaiyum peṇṭir paṇṭāramunittilaneṭuṅkaṭalutti
poru taṇṭāṟkoṇṭa kopparakecaripaṉmarāṉa Uṭaiyār śrīrājendracoḷadevaṟku yāṇṭu jayaṅkoṇṭacoḻamaṇṭalattu paṅkaḷanāṭṭu naṭuvil
Hail! Prosperity! In the 12th year of (the reign of) Ko-Parakesarivarman, alias Uḍaiyār Śrī-Rājendra-Choḷa-deva, who,—during his long life (which resembled that of) pure people, (and in which) the great goddess of the earth, the goddess of victory in battle, and the beautiful and matchless goddess of fortune, who had become his great queens, gave him pleasure, while (his own) illustrious queen was prospering,—conquered with (his) great and warlike army Iḍaituṟai-nāḍu; Vaṉavāśi, the roads (to which are bounded by) continuous walls of trees; Koḷḷippākkai, whose walls are surrounded by śuḷḷi (trees); Maṇṇaikkaḍakkam of unapproachable strength; the crown of the king of Īṛam, (which is situated in the midst of) the rough sea; the exceedingly beautiful crown of the queen of the king of that (country); the crown of Sundara, which the king of the South (i.e., the Pāṇḍya) had formerly given to that (king of Īṛam); the pearl-necklace of Indra; the whole Īṛa-maṇḍalam on the transparent sea; the crown praised by many, a family-treasure, which the spearthrowing (king of) Keraḷa usually wore; the garland of the sun (?); many ancient islands, which are the old and great guards of the shore, against which conches are dashed; the crown of pure gold, worthy of Lakshmī, which Paraśurāma, who, out of anger, bound the kings twenty-one times in battle, having thought the fort of the island of Śāndima (i.e., Śāntimat ?) unapproachable, had deposited (there); the seven and a half lakshas of Iraṭṭa-pāḍi—through the conquest of which immeasurable fame arose—(of) Jayasiṁha, who, out of fear and full of revenge, turned his back at Muśaṅgi (?) and hid himself; the high mountains of Navanedikkula; Śakkara-koṭṭam (belonging to) Vikrama-Vīra; Madura-maṇḍalam with the fort of Mudira-paḍa (?); Nāmaṇaikkoṇam, which is surrounded by dense groves; Pañchappaḷḷi (belonging to) Veñjilai-VīraVīrabhadra as bearing a cruel bow (Winslow).Māśuṇi-deśa, where leaves and fruits are green; the large heap of family-treasures, together with many (other) treasures, (which he carried away) after having seized Dhīratara of the old race of the moon, together with his family, in a fight which took place in the hall (at) Ādinagar, (a city) which is famous for its unceasing abundance; Oḍḍa-vishaya, whose copious waters are difficult to approach; the good Kośalai-nāḍu, where Brāhmaṇas assemble; Daṇḍabutti (i.e., Daṇḍa-bhukti), in whose gardens bees abound, (and which he acquired) after having destroyed Dharmapāla in a hot battle; Takkaṇalāḍam (i.e., Dakshiṇa-Lāṭa), whose fame reaches (all) directions, (and which he occupied) after having forcibly attacked Raṇaśūra; Vaṅgāḷa-deśa, where the rain does not last (long), and from which Govindachandra, having lost his fortune, fled; elephants of rare strength, (which he took away) after having been pleased to frighten in a hot battle Mahīpāla of Śaṅgu-koṭṭam (?), which touches the sea; the treasures of women (?); Uttiralāḍam (i.e., Uttara-Lāṭa) on the great sea of pearls; and the Gaṅgā, whose waters sprinkle tīrthas on the burning sand:—
Chāmuṇḍappai, the wife of the merchant Nannappayaṉ, who lives at Perumbāṇappāḍi, (alias) Karaivaṛi-malliyūr, gave a tirunandā lamp to the temple (called) Srī-Kundavai-Jinālaya (on) the holy mountain (Tirumalai) (at) the paḷḷichchandamVaigavūr in Mugai-nāḍu, a division in the middle of Paṅgaḷa-nāḍu, (which forms part) of Jayaṅkoṇḍa-Śoṛa-maṇḍalam.
The remainder of the inscription is written in faint and small characters, and seems to be a rough postscript, which was added after the bulk of the inscription had been carefully engraved by a skilled stonemason.
Postscript. Twenty kāśus were given for one (lamp) and ten kāśus for the sacred food.
Digital edition of SII 1.67 by