Journey with a purpose

Inscription at a Alandur temple shows a woman from Chola nadu studied Jain doctrines in the Pallava region

he Alandur Siva Subramaniaswami temple is near the Saint Thomas Mount railway station. On the step at the entrance to this temple is a Kampa Varma Pallava period inscription (875 CE). It was recorded by the Tamil Nadu State Archaeology Department in 2004 and talks of Mangaattu Thiruvaraandaanam.

“The word ‘araandaanam’ indicates a Jain temple. The same word is used to refer to Jain temples in Manimekalai, and a similar word is used in Perumkathai,” explains epigraphist S. Ramachandran. The inscription mentions a Jain acharya called Veerakkuravar, and his disciple, who is said to be the daughter of a man who belonged to the village of Arkkaattu Kootrathu Paripandathurai Parisai.

“This name is very similar to the name of a village near

TKandiyur, mentioned in Thiruppazhanam and Thirumazhappadi inscriptions. From the inscription we find that the woman made a donation for food offerings at the Mangadu Jain temple,” says Ramachandran. The inscription is important not only because of its antiquity, but because it tells us that a woman from Chola Nadu studied Jain doctrines in the Pallava country, became an ascetic, and donated to a Jain temple there.

Ramachandran says that the Mangadu Jain temple might have fallen into disrepair, and the stone slab with the inscription must have been used in the Siva Subramaniyaswami temple.

The latter temple is now being renovated. The inscription has suffered some damage because of people treading on it. Ramachandran says that the renovation presents a good opportunity to remove the stone slab and preserve it elsewhere, to prevent further damage.