800-year-old Shiva temple of later Pandya period unearthed near Melur

800-year-old Shiva temple unearthed in Udampatti reveals ancient inscriptions detailing temple's financial independence and historical significance.

An 800-year-old Shiva temple of the later Pandya period has been unearthed at Udampatti, a village in Melur taluk.

Professor P. Devi Arivu Selvam, temple architect and sculpture researcher, says that though only the foundation of the temple remains, the inscriptions on the culvert are significant as they reveal how the temple had been financially independent.  

While documents published by the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology in 1974-75 had described the existence of ancient temples in this belt, most of them are in ruins and some have almost disappeared. So, it came as a surprise to historians when recently boys playing in an open ground at Udampatti in the Malampatti panchayat stumbled upon a broken stone structure covered in mud.

The villagers alerted the Village Adminsitrative Officer (VAO) and Ms. Devi. With the VAO’s permission, the area was cleared. What emerged was the foundation of a temple with the stone base on the northern and southern sides intact.

With the help of the engravings on the foundation stone and Silpa Sastram as reference, the temple was found to have been dedicated to Lord Shiva.

C. Santhalingam, archaeologist and secretary of the Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research, who deciphered the two Tamil inscriptions found on the stone base, says they can be dated to 1217-1218 CE, during the reign of Maravarman Sundara Pandya. 

The inscriptions say the name of the village was Attur and the temple was called Thennavanisvaram. “It is pertinent to note that Thennavan is actually a title used by the Pandyas,” says Ms. Devi.