MADURAI: A stone inscription, believed to belong to 1000 CE, pertaining to Chola emperor Rajaraja has been found atop the Somagiri hills at Melavalavu village near Melur.
The inscription was found during a field study conducted by Thamizhthaasan, a cultural ecologist with the Madurai Nature Cultural Foundation, and Professor P Devi Arivu Selvam, temple architect and sculpture researcher.
C Santhalingam, Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research secretary, who deciphered the inscription, said finding Rajaraja Chola’s record in Pandya country is rare.
“The inscription begins with an honorific title, Rajaraja Mumudichola, a unique salutation found in this region, known as the Pandya country. The inscription talks of Rajaraja Chola’s reign in the Pandya region and how a military commander called Viranarana Pallavaraiyan had captured the area and ruled here. It also tells of Malaiyappa Sambu, who hewed the steps on the rock to reach a ledge where a temple had been constructed. Local people say that a bronze idol of Lord Muruga was kept there but now, it has been taken down and installed in a new temple in the village, where it is being worshipped.”
R Udhaya Kumar and T Muthupandi, research assistants at the Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research in Madurai, copied the inscription.