North Indian Inscriptions

KUNIYUR PLATES OF VENKATA II.

village of Kûniyûr (verse 46), which was surnamed Muddukṛishṇâpuram (verse 45) evidently after Muddukṛishṇa, the father of the donor, Thirumala. The village was situated in the Vîravanallûru-mâghâṇi, in Muḷḷi-nâḍu, in Tirvaḍi-râjya (verse 41), to the south of the Tâmraparṇi river and of Bhântamaṅgala, to the east of Kârukurchi, and to the west of Śêravanmahâdêvi (verse 42 f.). According to verse 119, it was situated on the bank of the Kurnâṭaka (i.e. Karṇâṭaka) canal, and according to verse 122, “on the western bank of the canal which flows to the south.” The Map which accompanies the Tinnevelly Manual, shows two of the boundaries of Kûniyûr, viz. Shêrmâdêvi (Sêravanmahâdêvi) and, to the west of it, Karaikurichi (? Kârukurchi), both situated in the Ambâsamudram tâlukâ and to the south of the Tâmraparṇî river. The mâghâṇi in which Kûniyûr is stated to have been situated, was evidently named after Vîravanallûr, a village to the west of Karaikurichi. The term Tirvaḍi-râjya is perhaps derived from the Tamil tiruvaḍi, “the sacred feet” (of the king). The Karṇâṭaka canal on which Kûniyûr was situated, reminds of the “Kannadiyan channel;”¹ but the two can hardly be identical as the “Kannadiyan channel” does not appear to extend as far east as Karaikurichi and Shêrmâdêvi.

......In the list of donees occur many names of Tamil origin. Most of these are derived from the designations of certain temples of Vishṇu and Śiva in Southern India. Thus, Aḷagâdri is called after the sacred hill of Alagar in the Madura district ; Veṅkaṭâdri,² Veṅkaṭapati, Vêṅgaḍatt-appa, Timm-arasu, Tirumala, Tiruvêṅgaḍa, Vaḍamala and Sêshâdri are derived from different names of the temple on the hill at Tirupati in the North Arcot district ; Varadabhaṭṭa owes his name to the Varadarâja (Aruḷâḷa-Perumâḷ) temple at Little Kâñchî in the Chingleput district ; Raṅga and Raṅgarâja refer to the temple at Śrîraṅgam in the Trichinopoly district ; and Ahôbala is the name of a village in the Karnul district, which contains a famous shrine of Narasiṁha. Among the names connected with Śaiva temples, Ârûra is derived from Tiruvârûr in the Tanjore district, and is commonly applied in Tamiḷ literature to Sundaramûrti, one of the sixty-three Tiruttoṅḍar or Śaiva devotees ; Kanakasabhâpati is a name of the god at Chidambaram in the South Arcot district, and Chidambarâvadhânin is called after the same place ; Chokkanâthamakhin and Chokkâvadhânin are derived from Chokkanâthasvâmin, one of the names of the god at Madhurâ ; Kâḷahasti is the name of a famous place of pilgrimage in the North Arcot district ; and Aruṇagiri and Aruṇâdri are Sanskṛit names of Tiruvaṇṇâmalai in the South Arcot district. Among the remaining Tamil names, Periyatiruvaḍi is synonymous with Periyâlvâr, the name of one of the twelve principal saints of the Vaishṇavas. Âḷvâr (i.e. âlvâr in Tamil) is an epithet which the Vaishṇavas add to the names of their gurus, and nâyanâr, the first member of Nâinârbhaṭṭa, is an honorific title affixed to the names of Śaiva devotees.

.TEXT.³

First Plate.

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......¹ Tinnevelly Manual, p. 41, and No. 3 on the Map.
......² The vowel of the first syllable of the word Vêṅgaḍam is long in the original Tamil, but shortened in the Kanarese derivative Veṅkaṭa ; see Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 308, note 16.
......³ From two sets of ink-impressions, received from the Editor.
......⁴ Read