Mēlappaḻuvūr, Agastyeśvara temple, time of Parāntaka I, year 36 author of digital edition Valérie Gillet Emmanuel Francis DHARMA Paris DHARMA_INSMelKil00001

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AIM, southern shrine; lowest inscription on the central wall section of the ardha-maṇḍapa of the northern façade; 36th regnal year of matirai koṇṭa Kōpparakesarivarman = Parāntaka I (circa 943 A.D.).

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svasti śrī

matirai koṇṭa kō-p-para-kēcari-paṉmarkikku yā ṇṭu 3 10 6 Āvatu

Avaṉi-kaṉntaṟpa-purattu mahaā-devark ku kaṇṭaṉ neēṟriyāṉ tirutta kuḷattiṉ kiīḻ Apohanaṅ kiṭaṉn ta bhūmiyai macakki Itin nirk kiṭaṉta nilam ṟi tu Uṭump' ōṭiy āmai tavaḻṉntatu Eppēṟrpaṭṭatu Uṇṇilam Oḻiv' iṉṟiy Aka-v-ēriyum puṟa-v-ēriyum miīṉ poṉṉum vaḷaiyiṟ cuṟṟu Eppēṟrpaṭṭatum tāṇi k koṇṭu Iraṇṭu taḷiyilum Orō noṉntā-viḷakku Erippōm āṉōm It-taḷi paṭṭuṭaiyōm Ēḻuvōm

ta bhūmiyai macakki Itin nirk kiṭaṉta nilam The reading of this phrase is based on the parallel in , line 4.

Fortune! Prosperity! This is the 36th year of Kōpparakesarivarman who has taken Madurai. For Mahādeva of Avaṉikaṉtaṟpapuram, Kaṇṭaṉ Neṟiyāṉ/Nēriyāṉ, when he improved tirutta the land which was lying kiṭaṉta without enjoyment apohanaṅ under kīḻ the irrigation of the tank kuḷattiṉ, having prepared macakki the land bhūmiyai the land where the turtles āmai crawl tavaḻṉtatu and the lizards uṭumpu run ōṭi,That is, uncultivated lands. the inner lands uṇṇilam of whatever name eppērpaṭṭatu were exempted oḻiviṉṟiya, the akavēri, the puṟavēri, the mīṉapoṉ,Literally: the inner lake aka-v-ēri-y-um, the outer lake puṟa-v-ēri-y-um, and the gold that the fishes are mīṉa-p-poṉṉ-um. The interpretation of mīṉappoṉṉum was suggested to me by E. Francis. I did not translate the original words because it is not clear whether they refer to proper ponds and fishes, as their literal meanings suggest, or to types of lands and other elements. For similar expressions, see . and whatever name eppēṟpaṭṭatum inside this land vaḷaiyiṟ cuṟṟu; having taken koṇṭu , we will burn erippōm āṉōm a perpetual lamp respectively orōInstead of considering oro as a variant of oru, G. Vijayavenugopal convinced me to take orō as a distributive of oru, that is oru oru, i.e. one each. nontāviḷakku in the two temples iraṇṭu taḷiyilum, we the Paṭṭuṭaiyārs of this temple paṭṭuṭaiyōm, we the Seven ēḻuvōm.paṭṭuṭaiyār and ēḻuvār each have a first person plural marker (-ōm), suggesting that it could be taken as two separate groups, that is, the Paṭṭuṭaiyārs and the Seven, or as a single group, made of Seven Paṭṭuṭaiyārs. It makes more sense, in my view, to interpret this sequence which appears regularly in the inscriptions of this temple complex as the Seven Paṭṭuṭaiyārs.

Nēriyāṉ is a name of the Cōḻa kings (as lords of the Nēri hill) or alternatively a personal name meaning "one of subtle intellect" (see MTL s.v. nēriyaṉ). Neṟiyāṉ, as derived from neṟi, could mean "religious one", that is, devotee, or "virtouous/righteous one".

Uṭump' ōṭiy āmai tavaḻṉntatu, "where the lizzard (uṭumpu) runs (ōṭi) and the turtle (āmai) crawls (tavaḻntatu, literally "that which [the turtle] crawls"). This formula, designating uncultivated lands, is also used in the late Pallava copper-plate grants.

akavēriyum puṟavēriyum. Literally: "the inner tank (aka-v-ēri-y-um) and the outer tank (puṟa-v-ēri-y-um)". This appears to refer to the tanks comprised by or nearby the plots, but the details remain unclear. See also for a similar formula.

miīṉ poṉṉum. Dr. G. Vijayavenugopal suggested to us to interpret poṉṉum as "gold", to read the previous word as mīṉa as a mistake for īḻa (īḻam), and to understand the phrase as "Lankan gold". We tentatively take the phrase in the sense of the "gold of fish", that is, the donation includes the income raised from the fishes in the two tanks just mentioned.

erippōm āṉōm. Literally "we have become, we are" (aṉōm) "those who will burn" (erippōm).

it-taḷi, "this temple", that is the temple in Avaṉikantaṟpapuram.

Reported in (ARIE/1923-1924/C/1924/368).

Edited and translated in , based on autopsy and photographs (by Valérie Gillet, 2016-2018).

This digital edition by Valérie Gillet and Emmanuel Francis.

136-137 1 74 C/1924 368