Devotees often carry centuries of tradition that firmly distinguish one deity, and their shrines, from the other. In the world of stone inscriptions, almost thousand years ago, the story is different.
“Shiva was once referred to as Perumal. Today, if you say Perumal, everybody will think of Vishnu. But in old inscriptions, you see the name ‘Perumal’ given to Shiva himself,” shared historian Chithra Madhavan at her Madras Week talk, pointing to a translation of an inscription from Adipureeswarar Temple in Tiruvottriyur.
The audience at ‘Interesting Temple Inscriptions of Chennai’ held at Arkay Convention Centre on Monday was intrigued at how a single word interchanged centuries of clear-cut distinctions. The historian revealed that the inscriptions and their meanings are not always the same. She emphasised on the translation and pronunciation of certain terminologies like referencing ‘lady dancer’ instead of ‘dancing lady’, the interchanged usage of the term ‘takshaka’ for carpenter in present times while it was used for architects in the past.
Besides Adipureeswarar Temple, Chithra unveiled the details of inscriptions of Masilamaniswara Temple (Thirumullaivoyal), Marundeeswarar Temple (Thiruvanmiyur), Parthasarathy Swamy Temple (Thiruvallikeni), Nithyakalyana Perumal Temple (Thiruvidanthai) and Vadaranyeswarar Temple (Thiruvalangadu). She also reminded that Chennai’s past stretched far beyond the city’s colonial clock. “We are all talking about a city which is 2,000 years old. In Tamil Nadu, the earliest inscriptions are Brahmi script in Tamil language. Traditional dating given to Sangam age is 3rd century BCE down to 3rd century CE.” The earliest inscription in Chennai is the Dantivarman inscription in Thiruvallikeni, she noted.
If the early inscriptions were brief, later dynasties filled stones and plates with elaborate detail. She notes that the inscriptions in temples tell the visitors about grants, about the rulers, about community life during that period of time. “For example, compare to the Thiruvalangadu copper plate inscription, the size of Achutha’s inscription is much bigger. Pallava copper plate inscriptions are much smaller, just two, three plates. But in Chola times it becomes bigger, in Vijayanagara times it becomes very big.”
Adding a slice of humour, Chithra presented a tiger carved on a stone. “It looks like a cat, but it’s a tiger. The two fish in front of it indicates that the cat has gobbled up the fish,” she explained. It was the inscription of the battle between Pandyas and Cholas. “In fact Rajendra Cholan had the title ‘Madhurantaka’; not just Uttama Cholan, many Chola kings had that title. However, Pandyas hit back and they were the reason for the fall of the Chola empire ultimately.”
Beyond dynastic battles, she lingered on the ways temples shaped entire towns. “There is a difference between temple city and city of temples,” she clarified when an audience member asked about Srirangam and Kanchipuram. “So Kanchipuram is a city of temples. Temple city would be Srirangam — the city itself is the temple, the temple itself is the city.”
As for Chennai’s temple spaces, she said that much of the city carried inscriptions waiting to be read. In Thiruvalangadu, copper plates expanded into long genealogies. She pointed that one of those inscriptions also mentions ‘Nungampakkam’. Quoting epigraphist R Nagaswamy, she mentioned that Chennai was the headquarters of Pallavas. From Pallavas and Cholas to Vijayanagara rulers, the inscriptions became a way of hearing the past speak. Even the very understanding of Chennai’s age was reframed through inscriptions.
At the end of the session what lingered was not just the names of dynasties or the measurements of copper plates, but the realisation that Chennai’s story was etched in stone long before Madras came into existence.