South Indian Bronzes: A Historical Survey of South Indian Sculpture with Iconographical Notes Based on Original Sources c7.24

c7.24

Raja Raja whose gifts were typical of the religious charities of the South Indian princes reminds one of Henry VIII whose gifts of images, pictures, jewels, relics, plates and stuff, etc., to the Church of the Westminster Abbey have become proverbial.² Raja Raja and his son also enthusiastically patronized the Saivaite devotional works, *e.g.*, the *Devaram*, *Tiruvāsagam*, *Tirumurai*, etc., by providing for their recitations in the temples on stated occasions called *Adhayan utsabas*, the 'festivals of recitations' and many of their inscriptions record gifts of lands for endowing these sacred recitations which included the Sanskrit epics and *purāṇas* as well as the Tamil hymns.¹