Studies in Cola History and Administration c14.81

c14.81

Naraḷōkavīra's religious and charitable works :—The great position and influence in the state that Naraḷōkavīra had built for himself by distinguished military service was used by him for the furtherance of the arts of peace. The temple was in those days the accredited centre not merely of religious devotion but of learning, culture and the arts. And, among others, the celebrated Śiva temples of Cidambaram and Tiruvadi (S. Arcot) became the spheres of the public benefactions of Naraḷōkavīra, and the inscriptions in these places (Nos. 7 and 8 above) give very interesting and trustworthy accounts of the buildings he erected and the endowments he made in these towns. The title Porkōyil Toṇḍaimāṉ and the surnames Nartaka and Sabhānar-taka often applied to him in these inscriptions furnish clear proof of his deep devotion to Naṭarāja, the Dancing Śiva. The statements in the Cidambaram inscription relating to his charitable works may be summed up as follows.