Photo- S.Kamalakannan
In contrast to the present age, when some corrupt
government officials swindle public money under the pretext of carrying out
certain civic works, it is surprising that the king Raja Raja Chola recorded in
his stone inscriptions even a little contribution made by a poor kitchen maid
for the construction of the majestic Brihadeeswarar Temple in Thanjavur.
Throwing light on this and various other glories of the
king, R. Nagaswamy, Former Director, Department of Archaeology, Government of
Tamil Nadu, said:
“Raja Raja Chola has mentioned the contribution made by
an Adukkalai Pendu (Kitchen maid) in
a stone inscription, as he wanted to document even a commoner’s gift to the
deity”
Addressing the seven-day exhibition on the Big Temple of Thanjavur
in the city, organized by the Coimbatore chapter of
INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) on Saturday
evening, the octogenarian archeologist pointed out:
“Based on certain Sanskrit stone inscriptions, I do not
agree with the general opinion of many other historians, who say that temples
are mere institutions of social and financial administration. I am sure that they
were built only for the cause of devotion” he added.
The controversial archeologist, who earned the wrath of
several Tamil scholars for his opinion that Tamil got the classical language
status only by the assistance of Sanskrit in his book The Mirror of Tamil and Sanskrit, noted:
“A stone inscription in Sanskrit found at Mahabalipuram
reads that a king had constructed a temple for the cause of his deep devotion
to God. Besides, another inscription provides a piece of information that a
king built a shrine so that he would receive the blessings of his departed
parents” added Nagaswamy, reciting the lines in Sanskrit.
The archeologist informed that the stone inscription on
the construction of the Big Temple was first
deciphered by E. Hultzsch, a German indologist and epigraphist in 1886.
“Had Hultzsch not done so, the people would not have
known that the shrine was built by Raja Raja Chola” he said.
Listing the contributions made by the public to the
construction of the shrine, Nagaswamy noted:
“Raja Raja Chola’s stone inscriptions provide the
details of all the gifts made by the public accurately. Helping the king in
building the shrine, the devout people of Thanjavur presented him gold,
sardonix, emerald and pearl. And the king has recorded their details both in
number and quantity. What’s surprising is that the monarch has recorded the value
of gold in the ornaments, appraising it both by including and excluding its
cotton strings”
“The king got every detail of the gifts inscribed on
stone, since he felt that the wealth donated by the devotees to the God was
accounted clearly and the accounts should withstand the test of time”
Shankar Vanavarayar, Convener, INTACH, Coimbatore
chapter, welcomed the gathering, Babaji Rajah Bhonsle, Senior prince and hereditary
trustee of Thanjavur Big Temple, Vikram Sampath, Executive Director, Indira
Gandhi Centre for the Arts, South Zone and Ramachandra Prasad, Co-convener,
INTACH, Coimbatore chapter, spoke in the function.
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