The Pandyan Kingdom from the Earliest Times to the Sixteenth Century c5.s1.22

c5.s1.22

As pointed out in the *Epigraphical Report, 1913* (p. 85) : ‘The subject-matter of the majority of the well-preserved inscriptions is, a gift made to a temple either of land or of money, for maintaining daily worship, special festivals, lamps, flower gardens and repairs; for feeding Brahmanas and providing jewels; or, it may be for supplying ghee of sheep and cows, to burn perpetual lamps in the temple. Lands were presented or, sometimes, sold to the temple by private persons and village communities. In the latter case, the sale amount was recovered from the temple treasury through the god Chandēśvara (the supposed manager of Śiva temple) and through temple trustees (*sthānattār*) (in the case of Vishnu temples). All land-gifts, whether sold or presented, were made entirely tax-free, the parties selling them invariably agreeing to meet the *irai* on such lands from their own pocket. Lands thus owned by the temple (*devadāna*) were in turn leased out to be permanently enjoyed as *kāṇi*, to select tenants or to the donors themselves (if cultivators), in consideration of a fixed amount of coin paid, or grain measured, at the temple treasury, regularly every year. Money gifts made to the temple were deposited with village assemblies and private individuals on permanent interest (*nilai-poliyūttu*) from which alone the temple had to meet the expenses specified by the donor. If the interest was not paid in any one year, the depositories agreed to pay it with the amount due for the following year together with a fine (*daṇḍam*) fixed for the default period by the officer (*dharmāsana* or *dharmāsanabhaṭṭa*) who was one of the members of the temple establishment. A curious condition was that the man who came to collect the arrears thus due was to be fed twice every day till, perhaps, the amount was fully paid up. Sheep and cows granted to a temple for maintaining lamps were received by the shepherds (*manrādis*) and the prescribed measure or measures of ghee supplied without fail. The cattle were, it may be noted, considered "never to die or never to grow old" for the apparent reason that they multiplied and increased in number.