Studies in Cola History and Administration c10.41

c10.41

Another inscription,* undated but doubtless among the earliest on the south wall of the Vaikuṇṭha-perumāḷ temple, records another large private gift of 100 kalañju of gold which was handed over to the Peruṅguṟi Sabhā to enable it to employ a second boat (ōdam) and pay wages (āḷ kūli) for removing one kuḷi of earth every day from the bed of the tank to the top of its bund, and thus to remove 360 kuḷis of mud every year. There are some more records of a like nature. These records and the creation of a special tank committee (ēri-vāriyam) by the assembly show that the proper maintenance of this large tank was among the primary pre-occupations of the villagers. The deputy tahsildar of Uttaramērūr performs to-day some of the functions discharged in olden days by the ēri-vāriyam with reference to this tank; for as Mr. Crole notes, † "one of the most important duties of the deputy tahsildar is securing the yearly supply of the tank, which is effected by the construction of a temporary dam in the river Cheyyār, several miles west of Uttaramērūr." The special emphasis laid in our inscriptions on the extent and regularity of dredging operations in the tank is also easily explained by the observation of Mr. Crole that "owing to the want of a masonry sluice and protective works at the head of this channel the tank is silting up very much"; and his further remark that "the supply is rendered precarious owing to the river topping its banks and breaching into and obliterating the channel", may have been equally true of the period of the Pallava and Cōḷa rulers. Altogether the creation and maintenance of this splendid tank 'with a revenue of Rupees 25,000 dependent on it' (the figure relates to 1879 or thereabout), and the solicitous care shown by the *Sabha* and the people of the locality in keeping it in constant repair furnish striking testimony to the enlightened methods of ancient Hindu administration which have compelled the wonder and admiration of thoughtful critics.