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@Evening: 🔔 Landmark Discovery Of Panchaloha Idols, Copper Plates In TN's Sirkazhi
👌 Why it matters
Let's go back in time for this evening email.
Context: A collection of Panchaloha idols and copper plates containing hymns from the Saivite text Tevaram have been found at the Sattainathar Swamy temple in Sirkazhi of Mayiladuthurai district.
The Tevaram contains the works of famous Saiva Tamil poets Tirugnana Sambandar, Appar, and Sundarar.
The finds emerged during renovation works undertaken ahead of a major ceremony later this year.
The idols are said to date back to the thirteenth century, during the reign of the Cholas.
A team of archaeologists and manuscript experts have inspected the finds, which have now been handed over to the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Department (HRCE).
Unearthing the treasure. The discovery of a number of vigrahas and copper plates in Seerkazhi Sattainathar Temple is a landmark event.
The temple is under the control of the Dharmapuram Aadheenam, a Saiva Mutt in existence for centuries.
The current Adheenam is performing kumbhabhishekam (consecration ceremony) to a number of temples under the control of the mutt.
The Sattainathar Temple kumbhabhishekam is slated to be held on 24 May, after a gap of 32 years.
It's customary to have a yaga sala associated with the kumbhabhishekam, so when the workers were digging a place for constructing the yaga sala near the west gopuram, they found the idols.
What they found. There were 22 panchaloka vigrahas, including those of Ganapathi, Murugan, Somaskandar, and Saiva saints such as Appar and Gnanasambandar.
Further, 55 peetas, a number of puja utensils, and 493 copper plates were found in the place.
The panchaloha vigrahas were found to be from the twelfth to thirteenth century CE, towards the end of the later Chola era.
Based on the style of Tamil letters written on the copper plates, they also seem to be from that period.
Apparently, they were buried to safeguard against invader attacks, and lost for centuries.
Significance. The copper plates carry the Thevaram hymns sung by Thirugnanasambandar, one of the four important Saiva saints from the seventh century AD.
Seerkazhi is the birth place of Sambandar.
While a number of copper plates of Pandyas, Cholas, Pallavas, and other kings who ruled Tamilagam were found before, they all deal with grants to individuals or temples.
But for the first time, copper plates with Saiva hymns were found in Seerkazhi.
These hymns, collectively known as the Thevaram, sung by Saiva saints Appar, Sundarar, and Sambandar, were lost for a couple of centuries though some of them were sung in temples.
Read S Krishnan's report in Swarajya for more insights on what the new finds mean to Tamil Nadu's religious history.
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