Copper plates recording grants discovered in Nellaiappar Temple
In the rare discovery, eight copper plates and two copper-plate grants were found, S Thamaraipandian, Coordinator, Project of Maintaining, Preserving and publishing the Manuscripts of Temples and Mutts, said.
The copper plates discovered in Arulmigu Nellaiappar Temple in Tirunelveli on Tuesday
MADURAI: Much to the amazement of people in Tirunelveli, a team discovered a treasure trove of copper plates and two copper plate grants in Arulmigu Nellaiappar Temple, located in the heart of Tirunelveli city.
In the rare discovery, eight copper plates and two copper-plate grants were found, S Thamaraipandian, Assistant Professor and Coordinator, Project of Maintaining, Preserving and publishing the Manuscripts of Temples and Mutts, said on Tuesday.
The state government constituted a special committee under his leadership to identify, preserve and document rare palm leaves and copper plates in temples under the maintenance of the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department. Among 46,020 temples, the team has conducted surveys in 232 temples, identified and documented 20 copper plates, so far.
The finding of the first copper plate offered as ‘Devadanam’ was inscribed with AD 1299. This copper plate talks about Vanji Cherakula Ramapandian taxing the new lands of Mathevan Cheraman Pillai, one of his army chiefs and the in-charge of a town called Nangeeswaraneri. Once upon a time, paddy was given as tax (7 kottai) -a measurement and as devadhana (God’s gift) to the Udaya Marthandan of Thirunageswaram Sivakami Amman Temple. The news is that a little more than 3/4 of a ‘kottai’ of paddy was ordered to be supplied to the temple of Pooludaiyar Ayyanar in the village as ‘Ayyanpathi’.
The second copper plate inscription was recorded in AD 1772. It talks about the writing of Dharma Pradhan Sasana to Sivagnana Pattar, the son of Muthulinga Pattar of Tirunelveli, by Jagaveera Ramapandiya Kattabomman son of Veerapandiya Kattabomma Nayakkar of Panchalankurichi. It also mentions that the temple’s main deity Lord Nellaiappar gave 72 gold coins to Goddess Gandhimathi Amman for performing abhishekam and nivedanam, a spiritual practice, during pooja at noon.
Above all, five copper plates found in the Nellaiappar Temple spoke about donations made to the temples, he told DT Next.
The first copper plate is dated 1682 AD. It’s known that the Kuda Nattu Vannikutathu chiefs established a foundation and offered lands to the Nelveli Natha Swami and Vadivamman temple to bless the Madurai Nayak kings Rangakrishna Muthu Veerappa Nayakkar and Thiruvenkatanathar.
The second and third copper plates are dated 1695 AD. It indicated that lands donated in the names of Viswanatha Nayak and Chokanatha Nayak.
The fourth copper plate was inscribed in Telugu around 1700 AD. It says that Ranga Krishna Muthu Veerappa Nayakkar gifted the area of Old Pettai to Sankara Shastri. It also mentions that he arranged to offer Artha Sama Pooja to Goddess Gandhimathi Amman with the tax revenue imposed on the people in the village to offer daily alms. The fifth copper plate is dated 1751 AD. Moreover, a mantra yantra copper plate was also found in the temple.
