The Colas c29.10.3

c29.10.3

A *brahmadēya* could also be resumed on the holders being compensated by the grant of other land in exchange, and the land so resumed could be put to some other use, in this instance converted into a *dēvadāna*. Quite obviously, Paḻaiyanūr was granted to the temple not as an ordinary *dēvadāna*, but as a *veḷḷān-vagai* with a permanently settled assessment of taxes which it paid to the temple instead of to government. The reason underlying this roundabout arrangement is not stated; but one may guess that the intention was to leave the actual cultivators of the land in *status quo*. When the land was *brahmadēya* they were remitting in all 3288 *kalams*, 7 *kuruṇis* and 5 *nāḷis* of paddy and 193 *kalañjus*, 1 *mañjāḍi* and 1 *mā* of gold as the landlord's share, and they were required to continue making the same payment to the temple instead of to their former landlords.¹⁵ Though in consideration of existing conditions a permanent settlement of the dues from the village to the temple was ordered, all that it meant was that the assessment was not to be altered as often as in the ordinary *veḷḷān-vagai* villages; for though almost every order or resolution was said to be perpetual at the time it was issued, there was no lack of readiness to reconsider it as fresh circumstances arose.