Photos: D. Gopalakrishnan, K.V. Srinivasan and K. Ganesan
REPOSITORY: Varadaraja Perumal Temple. (Below) Scales of measurement. The last in the row is found at the Mulanathaswamy temple at Thenkasi.
Temples in India, with their sculptures, murals and inscriptions offer fascinating information on contemporary society, its customs, dress, ornaments, battles fought and so on. Many temples in Tamil Nadu are also repositories of information on an int eresting subject the measuring rods that were used for calculating the area of agricultural land, the length of roads or irrigation canals; the measures used in trade and the weights that were in vogue at that time.
Two short, little noticed inscriptions, one with a short straight line and another with a long line incised next to them, at Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple at Kanchipuram, provide information on the measuring system that prevailed several centuries ago in the Tamil country.
These two inscriptions belong to the 14th century A.D. While one inscription with just the two Tamil words `Kandarankandan Kol' has a long line, running to several metres etched next to it, another called `Thatchamuzham' has a short line, about two feet long, chiselled close to it. The lines represent standard measuring instruments and they have sub-divisions marked on them. Standard measure
According to R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, `Kandarakandan Kol' was a standard measure for surveying lands, streets, irrigation canals, tanks and house sites.
`Thatchamuzham' was used for measuring temple towers, walls and pillars. Thatchamuzham was also used for measuring the height of deities whether they were made of stone, metal, wood, stucco or even ivory.
It was customary in ancient India to maintain standard linear measures, grain measures, etc. in temples and each measure had a specific name in honour of the ruling king or the deity.
In this instance, Dr. Nagaswamy said, the measuring pole called `Kandarankandan Kol' was the title of the Vijayanagara king of the 14th century A.D.
It meant "one who punished the criminals." `Kandaran' meant a man who was a thorn in the flesh of the society and `kandan' was a person who destroyed him. `Kol' meant a pole.
Since the temple's economy depended on its land holdings, an accurate land survey was periodically made for taxation and the length of the standard measuring pole was inscribed on the temple wall, Dr. Nagaswamy explained.
This measuring rod, about 18 or 20 ft in length, was used throughout the kingdom. It was used for measuring cultivable lands, tanks, canals, house-sites and laying streets. `Ulagalanda Cholan'
The Chola emperor, Raja Raja, conducted the greatest land survey in south India in 1,000 A.D. and assumed the title, `Ulagalanda Cholan', which meant "the king who surveyed the world." There were accurate registers of land in every village 1,000 years ago.
The other inscription titled `Thatchu Muzham' represented an architect's measuring rod. `Thatchan' in Tamil meant a sculptor, painter, surveyor, carpenter or a designer. `Muzham' denoted a length of about 24 inches. This was the unit of measurement used for constructing different structures in the Varadaraja Perumal temple at that point of time. They included temple towers, mantaps and walls with artistic mouldings.
`Thatchu muzham' was also used for measuring the height of deities.
"That these units were standard measurements at that time could be seen from their being inscribed at Ulagalanda Perumal temple, also in Kanchipuram," said Dr. Nagaswamy.
Another temple that has several inscriptions on the measuring rods and the weighing system that prevailed then is Moolanathaswamy temple at Thenkarai village, near Cholavandan, about 20 km from Madurai.
Tenkarai was also called Parakramapandiapuram, named after the Pandya king Parakrama Pandian of the late 11th century.
M. Chandramoorthy and V. Vedachalam, who have co-authored a meticulously researched book in Tamil titled `Parakramapandiapuram,' throw a lot of light in the book on the measuring and weighing systems that prevailed during the Pandya and Chola period.
Since revenue from land was an important source of income during the Pandya rule, there were standardised measuring poles, they argue. Agricultural lands
The Chola kings had devised a system to measure agricultural lands and classify them. During the Chola period, the measuring poles were called `Tiru Ulagalanthakol' and `Iluvaipaddikol.'
In the temples at Tiruchettankudi in Nannilam division, near Thanjavur and at Tirupagalur, near Tiruvarurur, the length of measuring poles have been incised on the temple walls. Both the temples belong to the Chola period.
(Dr. Vedachalam recently retired as Senior Epigraphist from the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology. The book was first published in December 2002 by `Kalaithaai Pathipagam,' Chennai.)
An inscription of the Pandya king Vikrama Pandian at the Moolanathaswamy temple at Thenkarai mentions a measuring pole called `Veerapandia Pathinettadikol' (that is, the measuring pole that is 18-feet long).
Besides, measuring poles with the titles `Padakakkol,' `Malaikudikkol,' `Manaikkol' and `Thatchu Muzham' and their lengths are inscribed on this temple's walls.
Two measurements of `Padakakkol' have been incised on the `adhistana' of the southern wall of the mahamandapam of the Thenkarai temple.
that they belonged to the 12th century A.D., the authors say.
Since Thenkarai was a brahminical settlement, `Padakakkol' was used to measure the lands in the village. The word `Padakkam' also referred to land itself besides being a measuring device. Divided into squares
The land at Thenkarai was divided into squares and numbered as "11th or 12th or 13th Padakkam." Dr. Vedachalam said, "This is comparable to survey numbers being given to land nowadays."
`Malaikudikkol' was used to measure the area of land on top of hills and the valleys below. A chain of hills called Nagamalai lies to the south of Thenkarai.
`Manaikkol', used to measure the area of houses, is also inscribed in the Thenkarai temple. It was about three metres long. Paleographically, this inscription belonged to the 11th-12th century, say Chandramurthy and Dr. Vedachalam.