Inscriptions of Sri Lakshmi Narayana Temple
The inscriptions are the added grandeur to the legendary greatness of the ancient temple.
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The inscriptions are the added grandeur to the legendary greatness of the ancient temple of Sri Lakshmi Narayana in Pazhaiya Seevaram. There are a few old Tamil epigraphs found in this temple, which bear witness of the antiquity of this shrine. The first of these, dated 1080-81 A.D., is visible on the east wall of the main sanctum. According to the historians it belongs to the reign of the famous Chola emperor, Kulottunga I. Two other inscriptions, one etched on the north wall of the sanctum and another on the mandapa in front, belong to the 12th-13th centuries A.D. The Chola inscriptions reveal the achievements of the great Chola kings and the contributions made by them to the temples.
The inscriptions found in this very ancient temple reveal that this shrine and the deity were known by various names in different times. These are also worshipped according to their different names. The inscriptions refer to the names of kings like Rajendra Chola-and preceptors like Vinnagar Singappiran Azhvar, Tirumalirunjolai Azhvar and Narasimha Nayanar in the Chola times. Pazhaiya Seevaram was known as Siyapuram and Tribhuvana-vira-chaturvedimangalam. The name chaturvedimangalam indicates that this place was inhabited by a large number of Vedic scholars, learned in the four Vedas.
However the inscriptions engraved on the temple walls evidently point to the chronological significance of the temple.
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