The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c15.55

c15.55

The wars of Sundara Pāndya resulted in such an extension of his power that he assumed the imperial titles Mahārājādhirāja-śrīparamēśvara and Emmandal-amum-kondaruliya. They also brought him a vast treasure which he employed in beautifying the temples at Chidambaram and Srirangam and endowing liberally these two famous shrines of Śiva and Visnu. At Chidambaram Sundara Pāndya is said to have performed several tulabhāras and erected a ‘Golden Hall’ for Lord Natarāja.¹ His gifts to the Śrīrangam temple and his building of parts of it are recorded in a long Sanskrit inscription which Hultzsch has summarized in the following words:² ‘He built a shrine of Narasimha and another of Visnu’s attendant Visvaksēna both of which were covered with gold, and a gilt tower which contained an image of Narasimha. Further he covered the (original or central) shrine of the temple with gold, an achievement of which he must have been specially proud, as he assumed with reference to it the surname Hemācchādana Rāja i.e., “the king who covered the temple with gold”, and as he placed in the shrine a golden image of Visnu which he called after his own new surname. He also covered the inner wall