30

CHAPTER-I

TEMPLES: ROLE AND INFLUENCE

Temples reflect a well developed civilization. A number of temples or

temple-sites are located in Kaveri region. An account of temples is found

befitting here. The temple has had an enduring ideological importance in Indian

history, which makes it the central focus of historical processes like religions,

social, economic and political. Temple came to be the legitimating institution

of the ruling elite, the king in particular, who acquired legitimacy and tried to

convey the authority through the temple and its symbolism. As a super ordinate

institution, temple acted as an integrating force for organizing society,

economy and polity. In effect as miniature cosmos, it symbolized the territory

enrolled by a ruling dynasty. It also needs to be understood that the temple

being integral to this process is inseparably linked to the development of

religion, sectarian traditions, society, economy and polity.

History of mankind has shown that man cannot live without God. “If

God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him” declared Voltaire.

Belief in God, in a cosmic power or cosmic law, in a super human spirit or

Being is basic to all culture. As the race .progressed, temple became pivotal

because they served as a sacred meeting place for the community to congregate

and revitalize their spiritual energies. Large temples were usually built at

picturesque places, especially on river banks, on top of hills, and on the sea
 31

shore. Smaller temples or open air shrines can crop up first about anywhere-by

the road side or even under the tree. 1

How and when the first temple took its birth is to anybody’s guess.

Temples did not seem to exist during Vedic period. The main object of worship

was fire that stood for God. This holy fire was lit on a platform in the open air

under the sky, and oblations were offered to the fire. It is not certain when

exactly the Indo Aryans first started building temples for worship. The scheme

of building temples was perhaps a concomitant idea of idol worship.

God can be malevolent as well as benevolent in nature. It is important

that the temple sight symbolize is one that will exhilarate him. The Puranas

state the “The God always play near the rivers and mountains and springs”.

Sacred sites in India therefore, are usually associated with water. Shades of

trees and lakes of India are often considered to be sacred and they have heeling

and purifying powers.

Concept of Temple

The gradual development of Mahayanism and Hinduism is evidence

responsible for the erection of temple because Mahayana produced figural

representation of Lord Buddha and Bodhisattavas which needed sacred places

for worship. 2

1. Saradhamani, M., Historical Sites and Monuments along the River Noyyal (South India)
Megalithic Period to Medieval Age- A Study, Ph.D. Thesis, Bharathiar University,
Coimbatore, 2013,p.86
2. Kanakasabhai, V., The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Reprint, Asian Educational
Services, New Delhi, 1979, p 232.
 32

Evolution of Temples

In the early ages temples were not constructed but only huts were

provided which later on got evolution till it become a solid structure. During

the inclination towards Brahmanism, the Hindu Gods needed a place for

exhibition. They thus provided simple solid structure to shelter the sacred place

for worship. During Gupta time the solid stone blocks were used to construct

the temple. After this stage the rituals became more complex. Hence it required

more deities and sculptures because of which the temple became larger in size

with more elements.

Evolution of Temples in Tamil Nadu

The primitive Tamil was a believer in totems. Ancestral worship and

totemic worship were insepararable and worship of the dead hero was the phase

of ancestor-worship. But these belong to a period very much anterior to the

Sangam period. Later the ideas of Godhead and modes of worship had reached

a mature stage with most of the Tamils. The aborigines believed in Gods who

were supposed to reside in the hollow of trees. The snake which resided in such

hollows was a special object of worship. The Kantu, a piece of planted log of

wood was an object of worship. 3 It served as God and it was preferably

stationed in the shade of the Banyan tree. The trees themselves, being totems

developed into religious institutions and particular trees came to be associated

with particular gods and their temples, became local trees later. 4

3. Kalitogai (Sangam Tamil Literature),Verse-8 1:7.

4. Subrahmaniam, N., A Tamil Social History, Vol I, Chennai, 1997, p.362.
 33

The Sangam cult centres like Kottam, Koyil and Nagar had no

institutional character and even in the transitional phase they are described as

centers which people are advised to visit for the worship of a particular deity.

The references in the late and post Sangam works to Brahmanical forms, in

which bloody sacrifices of animals and birds were made and belong to the

transitional stage. The universalization of the Tinai (Land Division) deities and

the institutionalization of the cult centre as a temple with Brahmanical forms of

worship as the chief focus achieved its fruition in the early medieval period that

is, in a totally transformed socio-political context. 5

Bhakti Movement

Bhakti was a crucial element in the evolution and spread of Puranic

religion, which emerged by the Sixth Century A.D., as a universal and formal

system in the Indian subcontinent as a whole. 6 In the Tamil region the

expansion of Vedic religion was intrinsically linked with local and popular

traditions and their interaction with Brahmanical religion is a two way process.

It was a synchronic and at times, diachronic evolution. It would be too

simplistic or facile to explain it as an interaction between the ‘Great’ and

‘Little’ traditions. 7

The major impact of Bhakti ideology was more significant and it led to

the expansion of the role of the temple in restructuring society and economy.

The temple based Bhakti was capable of developing into a transcendental norm

5. Champakalakshmi, R., Religion, Tradition and ideology Pre-colonial South India, New
Delhi, 2011, p.17.
6. Pilllay, K.K., Historical Heritage of the Tamils, Chennai, 2008, p.207.
7. Burton Stein, South Indian Temples An analytical Reconsideration, New Delhi, 1978,
pp.11-46.
 34

and hence acquired a centrality providing a focus for the achievement of

uniformity among various sects given their differences .Several non-conformist

elements and religious sects who observed extreme forms of rites could also be

integrated through Bhakti ideology.

The Bhakti movement spearheaded by the Tamil Alwars (Vaishnavite

saints) and Nayanmars ( Saivate saints) marks the beginning of the ascendancy

of the Brahmanical socio-religious order, that is, the dominance of the Puranic

Vaishnava and Saiva sects, and the decline of the religions of Jainism and

Buddhism. The socio-economic and political context in which the conflict

between the Brahmanical religions and the Jainism and Buddhist religions

needs to be situated is the general decline of trade-inland and maritime from

about the third century A.D., and the emergence of land as the economic

resource through a land grant system to the temple. 8

Thus the change from the early historical to the early medieval period

was one in which Brahmanical Hinduism assumed the significant position of

the main stream tradition. The revival was more a transformation of society and

religious systems through new institutional forces.

Brahmanical Influence

The context was the decline of trade and urbanism and the emergence of

an agrarian order dominated by the Brahmanical Varna hierarchy, which had

not consolidated itself in the early historical period. The change may be seen

even from the Fifth Century A.D., marked by the earliest land grants to

8. Champakalakshmi, R., op.cit., p. 438.

 35

brahmanas and temples. 9 The land distribution and control through such

institutions represented by brahmadeyas and temple-nucleated settlements, to

oust the so called heterodox faiths. Brahmanical religions achieved this change

through a process of acculturation by incorporating popular and folk elements

in worship and ritual, and by assimilating tribal and ethnic groups into the

social order through the temple.

The societal change visible from the Sixth Century A.D., was the

establishment of the varna hierarchy, in which the Kshatriya status was

assigned to the new ruling families and the traditional ruling families, by the

fabrication of impressive genealogies in the prasastis which were composed by

the Brahmanas in return for royal patronage and land grants, with the kshatriya

and the brahmana at the apex of the power structure. The rest of society was

places at the lower levels of the stratified order, with a ritual ranking around the

temple. The temple was not only the major institutional base for mobilizing and

redistributing economic resources, but also an integrative force and orbit for

social organization and the ranking of all the other occupational groups’ tribal

and ethnic groups of forests and hills. 10

It is in the Kaveri region that this process is traceable through a rich

corpus of early Tamil classics and transitional phase of the spread of Puranic-

Brahmanical tradition. Bhakti was propagated through the vernacular language

and phrase in their emotionally powerful hymns expressing devotion to a

personal god housed in the temple. The Tamil hymnal literature expresses a

9. Nagaswamy, R., ‘An Outstanding Epigraphical Discovery in Tamilnadu’, in Fifth

International Seminar on Tamil Studies, Madurai, 1981,pp. 2-69 and 70.
10. Champakalakshmi, R., op.cit., p.446.
 36

protest against orthodox Vedic Brahmanism, and they were the recipients of

impressive land grants from the ruling families. The temple, therefore, became

the focal point of social organization and ritual ranking among various caste,

occupational groups and ethnic or tribal people. All of there were brought into

the sphere of temple society through Bhakti as the legitimating ideology for

socio-political organization. These temples were controlled and managed by

brahmana land holders, non-brahmana or vellala land holders of the Ur and the

Nadu. 11 (Agrarian settlement and peasant region respectively)

Viewed from various points, the post-Sangam and pre-seventh century

period was one of ascendancy for the ‘non-orthodox’ creeds. The seventh

century religious developments - which are generally regarded in conventional

histories as a revival of orthodox forms- led to the serious conflict between the

two in the royal and urban centers. This revival was achieved it is said, through

Bhakti, which popularized the puranic religions.

Royal conversion was the symbol of change and hence central to this

conflict. The Bhakti ideal emanated and spread in a context of social

differentiation where conflicts centered around patronage and social dominance

as seen in Kanchi and Madurai. Presumably, the ideology of Bhakti throwing

open the path of salvation to all, irrespective of caste, imbibed the ideals of the

‘non-orthodox creeds, that is, birth and caste as being no obstacles to salvation,

and thereby succeeded in rooting out ‘heretical’ beliefs.’ 12

11. Subramaniam, N., op.cit., pp. 361 -372.

12. Champakalakshmi, R., Socio-Religious Movements in Tamilnadu AD 600-1300,
National lectures, UGC, New Delhi, 1978-1979, pp.10-17. (unpublished)
 37

Thus the concept of Bhakti acted in two distinct ways in establishing the

Brahmanical temple as a pivot for the enactment of the various roles of society.

One was by encountering the increasing influence of the heterodox religions,

which led to their ultimate decline of subordination. In fact, Jainism, which was

more widespread and influential than Buddhism, became as much a part of

puranic religion and temple based cult as Vaishnavism and Saivism were. The

other was more significant, in that it induced messianic expectations among the

lower orders of the varna-based society through the ideal of salvation.

The temple based Bhakti was also capable of developing into a

transcendental norm and hence, acquired a centrality that provided a focus for

achieving uniformity among different religions and sects, given their

differences. There is, however, no evidence of royal initiative or participation

13
in building canonical temples till the end of the ninth century A.D. On the

basis of epigraphic evidences, it would be possible to show that both Saiva and

Vaishnava Bhakti centers are known only through the records of Parantaka-I

and Aditya –I. 14

The temple was a determining factor in the expansion of the sacred and

temporal domains, which were stupendous royal projects and which mark the

apex of the Bhakti movement. 15

13. Swamy, B.G.L., ‘The Date of Tevaram Trio: An Analysis and Reappraisal’, in Bulletin
of the Traditional Culture, Madras, January- June l975, pp 119-180.
14. Bala Subramaniam, S.R., Chola Temples, New Delhi , 1971, p.141.
15. Champakalakshmi, R., Vaishnava Iconography in Tamil Country, New Delhi, 1981, pp
239-244.
 38

The temple, as the major channel of socio-pohtical communication,

conveyed the royal orders through inscriptions. Equally important was the fact

that it became the venue of the enactment of plays that narrated the king’s

achievements both in sacred and the political spheres. Temple entertainments

included music and dance. Festivals instituted by the royal family on birth

asterisms and on their victories, and the setting up of royal images in addition

to these Bhakti saints also sewed to glorify royal power.

There is a record of reciprocal flow of money, gold and land gifts to the

temple, and their investment with local institutions in different regions.16

Auditing of temple accounts and reorganisation of the redistributive system

through royal officers suggest royal penetration into local organization through

intervention in the working of the ideological apparatuses.

Imperialistic Rule

Chenkanan, a pre Vijayala Chola king, who is known to the Saiva

Nayanmars and the Vaishnava Alwars, counted as one of the Bhakti saints

mentioned in ‘Tiruttondar tokai’ and the ‘Periya Puranam’. 17 He ruled after

the Sangam or early historical period, which is Fifth and Sixth Centuries A.D.,

but well before the establishment of the Imperial Cholas. 18

Tevaram suggested the number of the temples namely five hundred to

be staggering for the Seventh Century A.D. Hence the temple building activity

should be located in the early Chola period and not before. However, apart

16. S.I.I., Vol.II , No.66.

17. Vellaivaranan, K., Panniru Thirumurai Varalaru, Part III, Annamalai University,
Annamalainagar, 1980, pp 1245-1250.
18. Tiruttani and Velanjuri Copper Plates, Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology,
Madras, 1979, p 60.
 39

from the temple building activity credited to Chenkanan, the prevalence of

temples built of brick and other perishable materials, earlier than the Seventh

Century is attested especially by the Mandagapattu Inscription of

19
Mahendravarman –I and the recent excavated shrine (believed to be of Lord

Subramanya) on the coastal site near Saluvan kuppam, and the earlier

Kaverippumpattinam brick structures.

This testimony of Hieun Tsang who visited Kanchi in the Seventh

Century A.D. is significant as he refers to many the numerous Shiva temples,

apart from Buddhist structures and the still numerically strong Jains (Nigantas)

were brick ones. 20 There is a problem to confront the dating of these temples

and corroborating the literacy and the epigraphic sources for example, most of

the temples sung by the Alvars and Nayanmars do not contain inscriptions of a

period of earlier than the middle or later Chola kings. 21 The specific reference

to stone temples, ‘Karrali’, erected in this period, is also somewhat curious, for

it may also indicate the re-erection in stone of earlier brick temples and

occasionally, an entirely new temple in stone. 22

The history of temple in the Tamil country begins for all practical

purposes with the rise of Pallavas in the seventh century AD. Under the

Pallavas, the architecture and sculpture in stone made great advances. It was

later on continued by the Pandyas and the Cholas.

19. S.I.I., Vol.II, No. 12

20. Walters, T., and Burhell, S.W. , Yuan Chwang’s Travels in India AD 629-645, Vol.II,
London, 1904, pp 226-27.
21. Champakalakshmi, R., op.cit., 2011, pp.455-457.
22. Epigraphica .Carnatica, Vol.II, 334. pp.146-47.
 40

Imperialistic Influence over Temples

The royal temples of the early medieval rulers are to be understood as a

statement of political power. They have proved to be an institution of enduring

importance, as a symbol of authority and political power. The temples, royal

projects in the capital cities were designed in such a way as to symbolize power

or authority, drawing upon cosmic symbolism, and equating the king or

monarch with the deity and the temple as cosmos or territory. The creation of

the ruler’s image as a protector, controller of his domain and also the royal

upholder of dharma was similarly reinforced by the image of the god as the

protector and upholder of Dharma.

Temple is a monument which stands as the most powerful expression of

the political authority of its royal patron. 23At the apex of the centralized

administration and the political control over harnessing and mobilizing the

resources for government, was the authoritative position enjoyed by the rulers,

the creators of the temples. This was based on Bhakti ideology that was

consciously fostered by the rulers, the creators of the temples. This was Bhakti

ideology that was consciously fostered by the Cholas to make the temple the

focus of the underlying socio-cultural process of an art tradition, which reached

its maturity in the highly stylized visual and verbal representation of the

dominant image of the god or king. They built up this political imagery and

consolidated their power thereby they transcended micro level monarchical

systems and integrating the whole of Tamil region into a cohesive politico-

23. Champakalakshmi, R., op.cit., 2011, pp. 482-483.

 41

cultural region with a puranic world view and vernacular idiom of Bhakti as

ideology. 24

Secular Functions of the Temple

The religion of a community is not something unrelated to its secular

activities any more than the religious experience of an individual is apart from

his general mental development. The temple likewise was a powerful social

and economic entity besides being a source of religious inspiration for the

people. Inscriptions give us some idea of the diverse secular functions of the

Hindu temples were designed to discharge: they were fortresses, land holders,

employers, treasuries, court houses, parks, fairs, exhibition sheds, the halls of

learning and of amusement, the consumer of goods and services, as banks,

schools, museums , hospitals and theatres.

Most of the activities centered round the village temple, which had

grown by the time of the Cholas to dominate every aspect of social life all over

the country. The role of the temple in the secular life of its neighborhood can

hardly be exaggerated and the temple and its affairs were among the chief

preoccupations of the local assemblies; and the temples had separate group

who were in charge of their managements; but these authorities were subject to

the double control of the local assemblies who exercises a general supervision

and of the officer of the king who audited the accounts.

The temple was the center of all the institutions popular culture and

amusements. The assemblies often set apart land for the maintenance of

24. Upinder Singh, A History of Ancient and Early Medieval India, (From the Stone Age to
the 12th Century), Delhi, 2009, pp 622-624.
 42

persons who expounded in the halls of the temples, the national epics of the

Ramayana and the Mahabharata and the puranas; was called Bharata-p-pangu

and was usually made tax free. 25

Music and dancing, and theatrical presentation of popular tales and

legends, formed part of the ordinary routine works of the temple and received

special attention on festive occasions. And natakasalas were specially

constructed for this purpose. 26

The office of Manrattu is very much connected with temple. Manradi,

the in charge of the office of Manrattu was made responsible for executing

repairs in the temple and was in charge of collecting the income due to the

temple. 27

An epigraph from Kaveri region refer to that the temple treasury was

lost, which was to be replenished by way of a grant of land as Ponvilai

devadanam and both the Devakanmis and the Manradis were involved in the

transaction. Further the temple accounts had to be supervised by the

Sivabrahmana, appan Virarajendra Chola Chakravarthi; who was conferred

with the office of Manrattu of the temple by the king. Thus the office of

Manrattu was very much connected with temple administration. The

contextual analysis of the epigraphs referring to Manradi from this region and

elsewhere indicates that the term manradi was an office connected with temple

affairs. 28

25 . A.R.E., 63 of 1897: 48 and 50 of 1923.

26. A.R.E.,157of 1905, 199 of 1907, 253- 254 of 1914, 398 of 1921,152 of 1925.
27. A.R.E., 91 of 1915, 13 of 1922.
28. A.R.E., 428 of 1959.
 43

The Multi role of the Temples

During medieval period the Hindu temple attained the zenith of its

influence on the social life of the country. 29 It ceased to be a small structure of

brick and mortar providing a centre of a simple worship attended by the people.

The construction of stone structure has provided employment to the architects,

artisans, sculptors and laborers i.e., of much skill and taste in it’s planning and

decoration. With its rise, there also came up a varied and complex routine in

each temple sustained by the rich accumulations in land and gold, the result of

pious gifts, , offered with a generosity and administered with a very care.

Religious and musical discourses have helped the propagation of

religion, music, dance, and other arts which received great encouragement and

provided pure and elevating type of entertainment to the devotees. Being a

centre of learning, the temple helped in the acquisition and propagation of

knowledge. Both scholars and students found shelter there. With its enormous

wealth, it also acted as a bank to the needy, giving easy credits. It brought the

people into more and more intimate business relations with the neighborhood.

The granaries of the temple helped to the hungry, and these unable to

earn their livelihood due to disease and deformity. There are several instances

of even hospitals and dispensaries being run by the temple. The temple played

the role of a court of law for settling disputes. The temple also gave shelter to

the people during wars.

29. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A., The Colas, Madras, 1955, p.652.

 44

The elaborate arrangements made for the management of the affairs of

the temple and carefully recorded in the inscriptions on its walls, summed up

the best practices of the time in this regard by the rulers and set a model for the

future. In short, temple as a nucleus unit which gathered round it all that was

best in the arts of civilized existence and regulated them with humaneness born

out of the spirit of dharma. The medieval period temple has few parallels in the

annals of mankind.

Being attracted with the wealth of Kaveri region, the strategic position

and the trade routes, Aditya conquered this region. A plate of Sundara Chola

state that Aditya built rows of tall stone temple. 30 The Chola Ruler, Karikala

wanted cure from his dreadful disease, to tour the Kaveri region and built big

and small temples. 31 The system of temple management mentioned in this work

ought to be given credit. 32 A host of temple servants was obviously employed

and the whole range of them was described as from ‘Nambi’ to ‘Thiruvalagu’

meaning the Pujari and the sweeper respectively, the alpha and the omega of

temple service. 33

A notable feature of the study region during the ancient and medieval

period was that the people belonged to different religious dominations such as

Buddhism, Jainism, Saivism and Vaishnavism. They were found living

together in the important urban centers of Tiruchirappalli region. The temple

30. Ramamurthy, V., History of Kongunadu, Prehistoric period to 1300 A.D., Part-I,
Madras, l986, p.240.
31 . Arokiaswamy,M., The Kongu Country, Madras, 1956, pp 294-295.
32. Subbarayalu,Y., ‘The Chola State’, in Studies in History, New Delhi, 2002, pp. 265-306.
33. Cholan Poorva Pattayam , Palm Leaves, Oriental Manuscript Library, Madras, p.104.
 45

was a powerful social and economic entity besides being a source of religious

inspiration for the people. Inscriptions give some idea of the diverse secular

functions of the temples which were designed to discharge. Those spheres of

activity in which the temple acted as the monument touched the sphere of the

life of the people of this region.

The inscriptions found in the temple present varied information. The

progress of epigraphical research since then has enabled us to get a large

number of inscriptions which are as varied in their contents as they are copious

in their details. In this group one may note all those record facts of a quasi

political, judicial, religious and economic character.

The numerous records which register the date of construction of tanks,

planting grooves, repair the tanks, wells and sluices, erection of resting places

are useful and enable to get an idea of the methods of charity and relief in the

country.

The records of visits of kings to the temples are valuables because visits

of kings to temples are availed of by the local gentry to apply for grants or

leases the terms of cultivation are specified.

Tiruchirappalli epigraphic records which register the dates of

construction of various parts of the temple, planting grooves, repair of the

tanks, wells and shrines sales and exchange of lands, donations and

endowment agreements among the villagers about the construction of a dam for

irrigation (Twelfth Century A.D) agreement among the land holders, trade

guilds to make gifts . The above inscriptions helped the historian to have a
 46

visual of the ancient and medieval period. They provide valuable information

about the customs and manners existed in those days. 34

An interesting record at Tiruchirappalli refers to an auction done during

those days. This temple priest had a due i.e., not paying the donated amounts to

the treasury. Unable to repay the amount, he sold his rights to a high price.

The inscriptions which record sales and exchange of land, the bulk of

the former class register donations and endowments made to gods, to priests on

behalf of temples and charitable institutions and to religious communities.

Some records gave information about the agreements among merchants’

communities and trade guilds to make gifts or to regulate common affairs,

agreement among the land holders of neighboring areas regarding the holding

and redistribution of land or irrigation or among caste men for the regulation of

social customs or privileges or the settlement of disputes. Such corporate

feelings were fairly well developed in the social and religious life of the

medieval period.

To build a temple or endow a math, to attach a school or a hospital to

either, to reclaim land and to promote irrigation such were the most common

roads to social eminence and public recognition. Temples constituted a sort of

reserve bank with branches in every village which observed and retained the

surplus wealth of the absorbed and retained the surplus wealth of the

community in normal times, and released it for use in seasons of financial

stringency, and was even ready to help the community to turn a sharp corner. A

34. Ganesan , M., Kongunadu Kalvettu , (Tamil), Mahakavi Bharathiar Noolagam,

Coimbatore, 2003, pp 203-225, Kongu Country Inscription Nos. 296-315..
 47

destructive flood or prolonged drought might have wrought for more

permanent damage to the economic of a locality if it were not for the assistance

its people derived from the resources of the temple accumulated by the piety

and industry of generations of their ancestors.

Learning

There were recitations of sacred hymns in Tamil and Sanskrit in the

course of daily worship in the temples and the assemblies sometimes gave

shares from the common lands of the village for the maintenance of these

services. Schools of higher learning and so were hospitals.

Endowments of lands as Bharatappuram, for reciting Mahabharata,

Tiruppaliyappuram, for reciting Thevaram and Nattuvapuram for the dance

master attached to the temple are also known from epigraph. 35

Every temple mandapa and the foliage of some tall spreading tree found

comfortable enough to hold disquisitions. The recitation of the Vedas, the

epics, Tiruppathikam and Thiruvasakam were regularly carried on during the

period and numerous endowments private and royal were made for their

maintenance. The same thing was arranged into the dancers and dance masters

by the temples are also known from epigraphs. One damaged epigraph at

Tiruchirappalli, which provided. ‘Bhattavritti’ for expounding of the Vedas

and for the reading of the ‘Mahabharata’. 36

The history of Kaveri bears great and important connection with this

region from historical times. Many Tamil authors and commentators belonged

35 . A.R.E., 163 of 1909, 192 of 1920; S.I.I., Vol V, No. 278

36. A.R.E., 176 of 1919, 159 of 1925, 202 of 1912; S.I.I .,Vol. V,No. 233.
 48

to this region. It proves the high literary level attained in Kaveri region during

the period. Kaveri region had produced great men of learning of that period,

which is itself a proof positive of the high state of learning that had obtained

here at that time. 37

There was a Tamizh Sangam existed in Tiruchirappalli during ancient

period and also a school prevailed. Though we have no direct evidences on the

spread of literacy as such, the frequent mention of schools, teachers and

scholars maintained by the endowments. The Jain ‘palli’ denotes even today

for the mention of the schools. Among the four ‘dhanas’ mentioned by the

Jains, Sastra dhana is one, which means to educate the people freely. 38

Temple as an Employer

The position of temple as an employer providing work and the means of

livelihood for a number of people is the most striking thing in this connection.

The epigraphs inform us that many servants had to perform various duties in

the temple and were paid by grants of land. The list includes Siva Brahmanas,

the drummers, the dancing girls, singers, stage managers, gardeners, potters,

washer men and accountants (Manradi). Professors were appointed to teach the

Vedas and the men put in charge of conducting the hostel and hospital in the

same place. Appointments to temple offices were generally hereditary.

Temple also employed laborers for temporary works such as executing

repairs in the shrine and the wages paid took the form of gifts of land and a

37. Arokiaswami, M., op.cit., 1956. pp 313-314.

38. Ganesan, M., Pazhankaraiyin Pandaiya Varalaru (Tamil), Pazhankarai, 2008 , pp 34-35
 49

house site. Two carpenters (Thachcharya) served as recipients of land under

this tenure, with the stipulation that they had to attend to the ten kinds of

repairs (Dasakiriyai) in the temple. ‘Sirpasiriyan Maniyan Kayilayan’

(Sculptor) alias Viracholan Achcharyan was assigned land by the king for

having built the temple of Viracholeeshwaram Udaiyar and for some other
39
services in the Temple at Uraiyur.

Ten kinds of temple repairs performed by two artisans, who were given

the kanikkai or gift of an endowment called Tachariyakkani which meant

apparently a tax-free land. The Uraiyur appraises of the appointment of a priest

for two temples in that region with privilege to conduct worship, to settle

people in its premises, collect dues, etc. on the payment of some fees.

The wages received by the employees are often reckoned in terms of

land. Acharya bogam, Uvachakkani, Sirpasiriyakkani, Tachariyakkani and

Manrattukkani were assigned to the services of priest (Achcharya), drummer

(Uvachan), sculptor (Sirpasiriyan), carpenter (Tachcharya), administrative

officer (Manradi) respectively. 40

Temple as Landlord

The ownership of the land assumes a greater significance in an enquiry

about the agrarian system in Kaveri region, since it had an internal frontier till

very late period which can be reclaimed for cultivation , thereby creating new

land ownership.

39 . A.R.E., 403 of 1908,138,188 of 1909.

40. A.R.E., 137,144,188 of 1909 and 203 of 1920.
 50

The primitive slash burn cultivation had made individual plots. The land

was held commonly by the tribal village authorities. The process of

de-tribalisation started with the advent of Cholas could have resulted in the

dismemberment of collective land holdings, resulting in the emergence of

single family owner farms. 41

According to Manu, the Indian Law giver, the king or the state was the

owner of all lands in the e country. The truth is that the rights of the king are

only theoretical, and he is no more the actual proprietor of the soil than he is of

his subjects.

Two inscriptions from Tiruchirappalli region mentioned the sale of land

by private person in accordance and acceptance by the Mandru or Sabha of the

village. It could be noted that the common ownership was the most ancient

form of ownership and private ownership emerged as a result of accumulation

of wealth and grants, which was very much visible during the medieval period

of the study region. As for the right of the king, it was only theoretical,

confined to the claim of a share of the revenue.

The medieval epigraphs were concerned with the land grants of a

religious nature the recipients being temples, mathas, salais, etc., though the

most common category of land grant to temple was known as the devadana,

specific nomenclature were used to the grant of a land to a particular sect or

religion such as Tirunamattukkani or Saivite shrines, Tiruvidiyattam for

Vaishnavite shrines and Pallichandam for Buddhist and Jain shrines. Further,

41. Manickam, V., Kongu Nadu (A History upto A.D.1400), Chennai, 2001, p 383.
 51

when a whole village was granted as devadana, the settlement invariably

received the place name suffix Nallur. 42

Besides the devadana grants, Nimatappuram endowment of land were

also made to defray expenses connected with a particular rituals or requirement

in the temple. From Uraiyur,a record that a grant of land called Nimantappuram

was made for the supply of senkalunirtthamarai, water supply in the temple of

the place also referred to an epigraph as Senkalunirppuram.

There is an interesting reference to the grant of land as ‘Ponvilai

Devadanam’ in a Uraiyur record , which was ear marked for providing the

deity with jewellery, and it is specially stated in the record that the temple

authority were to replenish the treasury of the temple , which is said to have

been lost, by utilizing the land. A record refers to the assignment of land,

sowable with three kalams of Paddy seed, by the king to the Senapathi, named

Ganaradittan Ganapati alias Rajaraja-pangala Nadudaiyan.

Epigraphs make a reference to the grant of land for specified services in

the temple as follows: Amuthu padippuram, endowment of land for the ritual

of food offering; Manttiraponakam for food offering; Tiruchennelpuram for

ritual offering of red rice (Chamba) Unnalikkappuram for the upkeep of the

sanctum sanctorum; Tirumelukkuppuram for dousing the floor with cow dung;

Putukkupuram for renovating the temple ; Vilakkupuram for the upkeep of the

42 . Ibid., p. 384.
 52

lamp; Amavasipuram for the rituals on new moon day ;Tiruvottachamappuram

for the midnight rituals; Tiruvanandapuram to be used as the flower garden. 43.

Temple acted as the landlord having many tenants under it. The most

striking feature in this history of this temple donation is the spontaneity with

which the king, prince, queen and princess, government employees, traders and

even most ordinary of the king’s subjects came forward to help the cause of the

temple. 44

The gifts, purchases and by confiscating lands for misappropriation of

temple property and in a few cases by bequest of property by pious people or

by accepting land in lieu of taxes due to the temple. The temple had generally

had large areas of land in its possession often marked out by the Tirucchulam

or the Tiruvali. Some temples had large income or other less, the richer temples

in few cases being prepared to help their poorer neighbour with their surplus

income. 45

How far the temple as a land owner differed from other private land

owners, we have no means of ascertaining, that the temple had a special

character of its own was maintained by the fact that leases were entered in the

name of Chandeeshwara, the first servant of God, thus reminding the tenants

that they held of God and not of human agency.

Temple as Consumer

The temple was also a consumer. Coconut, sandal, rice, turmeric,

incense, leaves, flowers lights, ghee, oil, pulses, sugar, plantain, curd, salt,

43. S.I.I., Vol.V, No.40; S.I.I.,Vol.V, No.241; A.R.E. 428 of 1959.

44. Arokiaswami, M., op.cit., pp. 298-308.
45 . A.R.E ., 203 of 1912, 431 of 1919 and 330 of 1921,113 of 1911 and 537 of 1912.
 53

pepper, areca nut, and betel nut were being generally used. 46 Panneer (rose

water), camphor, kasturi, kumkum were in demand cverywhere.

Women were placed as restraints in their social life and activities,

though modesty was considered the highest among their graces. The

inscriptions gave many examples of women of the upper classes owning

property in their own right and disposing of it as they chose.

Names of the individuals very often gave little indication of their social

status. Chilambamoovi, queen of Virarajendran donated paddy and rice to a

temple in Tiruchirappalli. Araiyan valli, maid of queen Vanavan mukkoor

kilanadi, wife of Virarajenran, donated gold coins for the lighting of lamps in

the temple of Uraiyur. Queen Mallikesi donated gold coins in lighting ae

temple near Tiruchirappalli.

Devadasi, Umaiyalarmai, Iravukanni donated gold coins for the sandhya

deepam light) in the temple of Virappur . Gowri, wife of Malan (merchant) also

did the same at Karkudi Thirumalai temple. 47

Relations between Villagers and the Temple

Of the village assemblies proper, one can notice two types distinguished

by the names ‘Ur’ and ‘Sabha’. A third kind of local assembly was the

‘Nagaram’ confined to the mercantile towns. The Ur was the simplest type of

assembly of the residents of the localities concerned and regulated all their

common concerns. The Sabha is variably an assembly associated with the

Brahmin village, Chaturvedimangalam.

46. Appadorai, A., Economic Conditions in Southern India (1000-1500 A.D.), Vol.I,
Madras, 1982, pp 286-287.
47 . Sridhar,T.S., Coimbatore Mavatta Kalvettukkal, Vol.I, Madras, 2006, p.94.
 54

That the villages were little ‘republics’ which had a large measure of

autonomy in the management of their own affairs is seen from the powers of

taxation for local purposes. It reveals that the existing rights were protected

when new arrangements were introduced the priority of rights of the cultivators

to use water from an existing dam was recognized while constructing another

dam nearby. It also reveals the rulers of Tiruchirappalli region gave autonomy

to villages and village Panchayat to run the administration. But when there is a

need the ruler would interfere and proves his integrity.

Sthanikas of the temple were the counterpart of the village head men,

who carried on their work with the help of committee of advisors called the

temple committee. A host of temple servants was obviously employed for the

temple service. 48 Though the particular man was appointed to see to its day to

day administration, the general control was always in the hands of the whole of

the village and particularly its assembly or Sabha which came into the picture

in all important matters.

The merchant class was always willing to help the temples carry on their

work, festivals and repair by contributing generously towards their expenses. A

subject of repair and maintenance of temples received the attention of our

ancestors more than it receives from the common people.

The bigger villages had several temples each in their precincts. In other

ways also the temple kept in touch with the villagers. The temple tenants were

48. Cholan Poorva Pattayam, op.cit., p.104.

 55

exempted from certain customary taxes, they being in reality expected to give

them instead to the temple.

Uraiyur grant appraises the appointment of a priest for two temples in

that region with privileges to conduct worship, to settle people in its premises,

collect dues etc., on the payment of thirty gold coins by him. 49

Inscription from Tiruchirappalli contain records of privileges accorded

to ‘Kammal’an Ironsmith and to other artisans. These privileges were granted

by Chakravarti Konerinmai Kondan. The privileges were, the blowing of two

conches, the beating of drums and so on at domestic occurrences good or bad;

the use of sandals when they went out of their homes; and plastering of the

walls of their residences with lime plaster. The construction of houses with two

storeys and with double doors is also mentioned together with the right to

decorate the front of their houses with garlands of water lilies.

A contribution from the farmer for a lamp was being daily collected

evidently meant for offerings. The temple was authorized to collect a certain

amount from cities, villages and military stations to provide fund for repairs.

The amount that the individual had to pay was determined by his caste or

occupation. 50

No public activity of man is so much recorded in the inscription of the

day at his activities in relation to God and the temple. A record from

pazhankarai mentioned the donations for food to the God by the villagers.

49. S.I.I., Vol. II, No. 5. Section 15; A.R.E. 309 of 1908.
50. Ganesan, M., op.cit., Inscription No. 242.
 56

The temple management, day to day administration and its general

control was always in the hands of the whole of the village and particularly its

assembly or Sabha which came into the picture in all important matters.

The study of the temple in its economic aspects may be noted that the

temple served as an agency in breaking the isolation and promoting self

sufficiency of the villages. The temple by its ownership of land in different

localities made its necessary for its economic relations to be maintained with

the village. The employees who served it were drawn from different localities

which paved the way to maintain contact between different villages.

The Wealth of the Temple

The temple had surpluses from its annual income. Occasionally such

surpluses were utilised in celebrating festivals etc or in helping the poor people.

Kings, chiefs, merchants and land owners vied with one another in presenting

rich offerings to their favorite places of worship. The gifts of the temple were

of numerous kinds. In several ways, the temples centers of hoarded wealth.

The temple was a growing institution of uncommon influence of great

wealth and power. Besides being a center of religious worship, it also

functioned as a center for the learning of cultural enjoyment and of economic

and political transactions. 51

The village assembly often met in the local temple and transacted its

business. It possesses a large acreage of the devadana lands, which were given

for cultivation to the riots under agreed contracts. Its vast premises housed

51. A.R.E., 163 of 1910.

 57

many families of working people like weavers and oil pressers. They served the

temple in their own turn, which the king recognised and rewarded them with

the remission of certain taxes. Often the temple authorities collected taxes on

behalf of the king and paid him in a lump amount. 52

Indirectly the gifts of land to temples being considered meritorious,

pious people thought it worthy to reclaim land in order to gift it to the temple.

Gifts of money to the temples are numerous in the records of this region. They

were made for various objects like the maintenance of services in temples,

festivals monthly annual or occasional, the feeding of Brahmans and

improvement of tanks. Gifts in kind took the form of animals like sheep or

oxen , produce of the fields, vessels and ornaments useful for the gods.

The growth of urbanization and the expansion of commerce were

interlinked possesses which unfolded with the over-arching frame work of the

temple and evolved into an integrative central institution in medieval Tamil

Nadu. Donations to the temples were made by several classes of donors -

royalty, landed elite, military officials, merchants as well as corporate bodies. It

was the income from the donation or deposit which would be used to pay for

the service for which the endowment was made. Most of the services for which

endowments made were lamps, the ritual bath, turmeric paste, flower garden or

supplying flowers and so on.

There are references to the endowment of land belonging to the village,

which formed the part of the common land of the Sabha in this village. All

52. Appadorai, A., op.cit., p.292.

 58

sorts of income were remitted to this temple. Another inscription mentioned

Konerinmai kondan Virarajendra Chola about the donation of a village to the

Panchavaraveswarar temple of Uraiyur as devadana. 53

Thus temple played an important role in various transactions of the

society and it had great influence among the people of the region. The temples

of today have grown from the humble beginning. Its evolution was in gradual

way. The Bakthi movement of medieval Tamil Nadu promoted the temple

worship. The Brahminical influence in temple practices was kept in tact

through the ages in Tamil Nadu. Being cultured and religious, the Rulers of

Tamil Nadu built many temples in various parts of Tamil Nadu. The temples

served as a venue for the public activities and professionals to display their

talents. Temples reflects a well developed civilization. It has played a multirole

in the past and present.

53
. Sitaram Gurumurthy, Coimbatore Mavatta Kalvettukal, Vol.II, Inscriptions. No.
957/2003, p.91.