Pallavas, An introduction.

 

”விதித பகு நயஹ சைவ சித்தாந்த மார்கே,
ஸ்ரீமான் அந்தயந்த காமஹ க்ஷத ஸகல மலஹ
தூர்த்தர பல்லவானாம்”

“சைவசித்தாந்த மார்க்கத்தின் பலவழிகளைப் பின்பற்றி தன்னிடமிருந்த அகற்றப்படத்தக்க  அனைத்தையும் போக்கியவன்.”

“I am a Person who followed the paths shown by Saiva Siddhantha and removed all the negatives in myself.”

This is how Rajasimha Pallava describes himself in an inscription engraved at the beautifully engineered Kanchi Kailasanathar Temple created by him in the 8^th century CE.

Sundaramoorthy Nayanar in his Thiruthondar Thogai mentions, “கடல் சூழ்ந்த உலகெலாம் காக்கின்ற பெருமான் காடவர்கோன் கழற்சிங்கன்”.

 Scholars maintain that Sundarar refers to this King Rajasimhan in this text.

The Pallava rule at the Thondaimandalam, has been placed by the scholars at least since the 5^th Century CE and they continued to rule for over 500 years!!

Those were times, when we did not have stone temples or inscriptions in Tamizhagam. Our information on the early Pallavas is through copper plates.

However, there is an Inscription of the 4^th century CE by Emperor Samudragupta at Prayagraj,  that can be seen to this day at the Allahabad Fort. His victory over Vishnugopa had been significant to be inscribed in stone.

SamudraGupta, in his inscription, speaks about his Dakshinapatha expedition to the South, and mentions taking the Coastal route to Kanchi to challenge Vishnugopa, the then ruler of Kanchi. Those were times when the population of the whole of Bharat was estimated to be around just 5 crores and most of our country was covered with forests. The Coastal route would have been less complicated.

These are the remains of a brick temple at

 Saluvankuppam, right on the ECR, popularly

 identified as belonging to the Sangam Age. 

Temples were earlier built with bricks, mortar, wood and metal.

The first Stone Cave temple of our region is at at Mandagappattu, in Vizhuppuram district. It was built by King Mahendra Varma Pallavan.

His inscription in Pallava Grantha script at this Mandagappattu Cave temple says, “ I, the innovative thinker, have got this cave temple created without bricks, mortar, wood or metal for Brahma, Vishnu and Siva.”

Below is a copy of the inscription and the picture of Cave temple sourced from the net.

Mahendra Pallava’s territory had extended to include the river Kaveri and there is a beautiful cave with exquisite carvings created by him in the Uchchi Pillayar temple at Tiruchi.

His illustrious son Narasimha Varman was also a trail-blazer in history.  Pulikesi II of the Chalukya empire had invaded Kanchipuram more than once during the rule of his father.  Battles were fought at  Pullalur, Manimangalam, Pariyalam and Sooramaram, places in the Pallava territory.

Pullalur and Manimangalam exist quite near to us and have ancient temples.

That Pulikesi himself was so heroic,  had defeated Harsha Vardhana, conqueror of most parts of the  northern Bharat did not deter Narasimha Pallava.

He strategized, mobilized an army, and led all the way to Badami then known as Vatapi,  a distance of about 700 kilometers from Kanchi. 

The campaign in the year around 645 CE was victorious. He calls himself, “வாதாபி கொண்ட நரசிங்க போத்தரையன்”  in an inscription at Thirukkazhukunram.

 Paranjothi, his general, later turned to spirituality and was revered as சிறுத்தொண்ட நாயனார்.  

 Now, coming closer to our locality, there are three rock cut Cave temples, two dedicated to Shiva and the other one to Vishnu, at Vallam, in the outskirts of Chengalpattu created by a chieftain during the period of MahendraVarma Pallavan (590–630 CE). It has an inscription that lists his titles, Lalithaankuran, Chatrumallan and Gunaparan. 

The script is of those times, and the language is ancient Tamizh. It says,

பகாப்பிடுகு லலிதாங்குரன் சத்ருமல்லன் குணபரன்

மயேந்திர போத்தரசரொரு அடியான்

வயந்தப்பிரி  அரசரொரு மகன் கந்தசேனன்

செய்வித்த தேவகுலம்.

 It is also pertinent to know that the Pandyas had started building Cave temples in their territory a little earlier too.

 Administration – Land and Water Management

The Pallava era has left an indelible positive mark in the history of this land. They had understood that economic prosperity of the subjects is the key to a powerful kingdom, and the citizens proved themselves to be worthy subjects.

A classic example is the ancient town of Uthiramerur, a place with no rivers and  the land most suited for thorny bushes and trees. The inhabitants of the village in the Pallava times, through their sheer hard labour, had created lakes and irrigation canals for a thoughtful distribution of the water. A village assembly was exclusively dedicated to carefully create and maintain them.

“The cultivable lands were divided into blocks, serially numbered along the irrigation canals and each block was sub – divided into four squares of equal measurement. The irrigation canals were also serially numbered and the village assembly maintained an accurate land record. “ – From Padma Bhushan Dr R Nagaswamy’s book.

Even today, there are about 41 lakes and 124 minor irrigation tanks in the Uthiramerur Town and the adjoining villages. 

This place is also world famous for its village assembly and selection of its members through the Kudavolai method.