History of the Pallavas of Kanchi c15.32

c15.32

The other important work of the village Sabhās of the Pallava age was the management of temple property and service. The temple appears to have played an important role in the age of the Pallavas and must have attracted large numbers of people for various purposes. A close study of the inscriptions of this period shows that the Pallava kings took a great deal of interest in the building of these temples as well as their proper upkeep. These are scattered all over the Tamil districts, some of the most beautiful and important ones being found at the capital of the kingdom, Kāñchīpuram. The inscriptions at the Rājasimhēśvara and at the Vaikuṇṭaperumāḷ temples bear ample testimony to the great devotion of the Pallava kings but details of their management in those days are not available. It is quite probable that their management was entrusted to the temple committee of the city council in the days of Rājasimha and Paramēśvaravarman. In the actual management of the temple administration which involved the looking after of lands, appointment of contractors for the day-to-day supply of rice, ghee, flowers, etc., defalcations sometimes occurred even leading to the reduction in the actual offering to the deity. One such instance is recorded in the Triplicane inscription of Dantivarman, dated in the twelfth year of his reign.¹ The temple management (*kulankiḷār*) having mortgaged one of the temple fields in Karumārachēri, the offering to the God fell short. This was restored however by the pious offices of one Pugaḷtuṇai-Visśiyarāyan who redeemed the mortgaged field.