Natham is a village near Pullambadi, in Lalgudi taluk. And in the Vishnu temple here is a rare stucco icon. Vishnu is in a reclining position, with His left hand in AhvAna (beckoning) pose, and right hand on Gajendra’s head. The elephant’s foot is seen caught in the jaws of the crocodile. The Puranic story goes that Gajendra called out to Vishnu as ‘Adi Moola,’ and that precisely is the name of the deity of Natham.
Natham was known by different names at different times. The temple must have been built during the Pallava reign, surmises Dr. L. Tyagarajan, retired professor of history and principal Ariyalur Arts College.
He has analysed all inscriptions pertaining to the temple in detail. “An inscription in Alambakkam Varadaraja temple is the earliest one about the temple. It belongs to 883 C.E., 12th regnal year of Aditya Chola I, and refers to Natham as Tiruvisalur and the deity as Perumanadigal. It talks of donation of land in Alambakkam, near the Marpidugu Eri, to the Natham temple.”
By the time we get to the second regnal year of Veera Rajendra Chola (1065 C.E.), the deity is referred to as Pallikondazhvar, but the village is still Tiruvisalur. By the time of Kulottunga III, the name of the village changes to Sri Nandai, and continues to be so called till the time of Raja Raja III. But during the reign of the same king, the village is also referred to as Tirunarayananallur (1243 CE inscription).
First reference
In inscriptions of Raja Raja III’s time (1242 and 1244 CE), the deity is called Adimurthy Nayanar. For the first time, the deity is referred to as Adi Moola Perumal in the time of the Hoysala King Veera Ramanatha (1271 CE). The first reference to the village as Natham is in a 17th century inscription of the Nayak period.
The Natham temple has an interesting inscription of the period of Kulotunga III in his 38th regnal year (1216 CE). It mentions his victories in Madurai, Lanka and Karuvur and uses his title Tribhuvanaveeradevar. This inscription records that the Sri Nandai (Natham) temple was built of bricks above the adishtanam and that this portion needed repairs. It also says that the space in the temple was constrictive (sthaana sankatam) and so the temple was being rebuilt. But in order that inscriptions already existing in the temple should not be lost, copies were taken. However, while copying the original inscriptions, the scribes could not understand portions of the originals. In the 1216 C.E. inscription, they record their inability to decipher portions of the older inscriptions, and to indicate that the newly copied inscription does not have the entirety of the older inscriptions, they have left a seven foot long empty space on the wall. The 1216 C.E. inscription has some discrepancies, which could not be explained until 1998, when the temple had to be renovated. When the temple was dismantled, the older structure built by Raja Raja I was discovered. Clearly, this had not been demolished but had been built around in 1216 C.E. And in the older structure were found two inscriptions. These were the two that had been copied in 1216. One belongs to 993 CE, the 8th regnal year of Raja Raja I, and the other belongs to 1072, the 2nd regnal year of Kulottunga I.
“The scribes who copied the two inscriptions in 1216, read them both as one. So they took the name of Raja Raja from the first inscription, but took the regnal year of Kulottunga from the second inscription, and that led to certain inaccuracies. For example, the copied inscription talks of ‘Valanaadu,’ a division Raja Raja came up with only in 1001. So if we are talking of his 2nd regnal year- 987 CE, how could Valanaadu have been mentioned?
Difference in spelling
“That mix up resulted because of reading the two inscriptions together. The 1072 CE inscription talks of Kshatriyasikhamani, but in the copy it is Kuladeepasikahamani.
This difference in spelling is because the Tamil script had changed in the 100 year gap between the two inscriptions,” says Tyagarajan. He adds that this should serve as a warning to those who depend solely on inscriptions for historical analysis.
There is an interesting inscription in the Natham temple which is a carefully drafted legal document. It talks of a Brahmin woman named Nayaka Devichani, who gives a power of attorney to her brother Madhava Bhattan to sell her land to the temple. Just as one would find details of a property mentioned in the schedule of a sale deed in modern times, one finds all details about Devichani’s property in the inscription, including its boundaries, and the names of the canals that irrigated the land. This inscription shows that Brahmin women owned property, with full rights of alienation.
“An inscription (1267 CE) belonging to the 13th regnal year of Hoysala King Vira Ramanatha says because of the heavy taxes imposed on weavers, many had quit the area. The King therefore announced a lowering of taxes. A similar inscription is found in the Siva temple in nearby Gandaraditham. These inscriptions show that the area was an important weaving centre,” says Tyagarajan.
Govinda Dikshitar, minister under Raghunatha Nayaka (1600-1645) and father of Venkatamakhin (author of Chaturdandi Prakasika), is mentioned in an inscription, which talks of a donation made to the temple to ensure the welfare of Raghunatha and his minister.
“It was not only the name of the deity and the village that changed over time. A mandapa was built in 1216 C.E. by a Senthamarai Kannan, and was named Thaayilum Nallaan mandapam, this being one of the titles of Kulottunga III. But by the time of Raja Raja III the mandapa came to be called Senthamarai Kannan mandapam, after the man who built it,” says Tyagarajan.
Inscriptions throw light on administrative divisions that prevailed in the Chola period. “Naadu was a revenue division that included many villages, and many Naadus constituted a Valanaadu,” explains Tyagarajan. “Names of some villages mentioned in inscriptions remain unchanged, while some have changed. Mangudi is still known by the same name. Keerandevankudi is present day Devankudi. Kodaamozhinallur is probably the village now known as Kokkudi.”
The Natham Adi Moola Perumal temple, which comes under HR& CE, has been restored without the loss of inscriptions, and is well maintained. The villagers are proud of their heritage, and even little children who throng the temple during holidays do not rub ghee or kumkum on the pillars, or leave graffiti on the walls. Here is proof that for a temple to retain its past glory, people must be aware of the heritage value of their temples.
