Place - Koviloor - Ramnad district ( it is Karaikudi Koviloor - Kotraivaleeswarar. temple)
King of the time - Savana Udayar
Notification by - Local Brahmana Sabha
Order - Hence forth the grooms should pay only 8 kalanju gold and 8 kalanju silver for the bride's jwellery. Anybody violating this rule will be excommunicated.
Woman Power.
It clearly shows that marriages were either Kanya Dhan or Girls were paid money. ( Sastras condemn giving daughters for money / Grooms taking money)
How it changed in end 19th Century to Vara Dakshina ( Pay money to groom)?
Why go to 14th Century. In U.Ve.Sa's 'En Sarithiram' (autobiography) he writes that during his times, the grooms has to pay money to the girls to get married. And within his lifetime things changes.
So hardly 100 years back, we didnt had this vara dakshinai concept. Moreover, it was the reverse vara dakshinai - groom paying money to the bride. :)
Maybe grooms started demanding money because they studied ENGLISH or working in govt. :) just a guess...
In addition, one would assume that in principle, this depends on the sex ratio in a given population: if it's skewed towards males, it becomes more and more difficult for a given male to find a partner, and vice versa. This could very well lead to a bride/groom price.
We must remember though, just because the grooms have to pay a dowry doesn't mean that the girls are more powerful or anything. For example, the bride price is quite common in Central Asia, from what I've heard, but that just means that "ownership" of the poor girl is transfered from the father to the husband for a given price (this is really a kind of slavery...)
Hi Sankar "only 8 kalanju gold and 8 kalanju silver" - upper limit or lower limit! Anyway, I fully endorse "Anybody violating this rule will be excommunicated". Sampath --- In [email protected], "sankaranarayanan k.s"
1. Pillayarpatti scluptor who signed 2. Thirukkolakkudi pei 3. Now this Kovilur 4. Pandya inscriptions of Thirupathur ( both from siva and vishnu temples)