And The Stones of Uttiramerur said .........

 

UTTIRAMERUR , near Kanchipuram , is a busy small town now , with all features of a typical Tamilnadu mofussil layout- full of  shops, dust, loud voices, floral and frying aromas , white heat , sweaty brows , ox carts, forests of  Dish Antennae, flex-posters announcing weddings/ deaths and  kuthupaattu beats throbbing from public transport vehicles as well as multicolored little shrines....in short, full of life.  

It might very well have been just as lively a millenium ago too. For starters, it was a good enough sized settlement for Pallava Nandivarman II to have built  a three tiered shrine to Vishnu in His three poses - standing , seated and reclining. Just like the grand one in Kanchipuram. The SundaraVarada Perumal Temple spread across two acres has undergone additions and alterations in succeeding centuries , making it a magnificent monument . Not content with the three main Vishnu alters , there are additional alters to Vishnu  giving anugraha to Arjuna , Nakula and Sahadeva as  Achyuta Varada , Aniruddha Varada and Kalyana Varada . And to Krishna and Narasimha on the top tier too. Goes without saying , the Kalyana Varadar is the most popular ! 

(Top row : Vaikuntaperumal Temple, Bottom: SundaraVaradar Temple )

The arrangement of the alters , the balustrades and the sculptures on them are exquisite. The local administration has installed many signboards outside the temple's compound, giving exhaustive information about not only the temple , but  also the geneology , reforms , victories and innovations of  Chola Kings. And of the many glories of Uttiramerur . But the temple tank cries for some sustained upkeep. 

An edifice need not necessarily be monumental or attractive to evoke interest and wonder . Not far from the SundaraVarada temple , on  the way to it , on the busy Bazar street , right next to the Town Bus Stand is a fenced off open lot  surrounded closely on the other two sides by a dense cluster of shop and eateries . It could easily escape notice but for the dark blue signboard of ASI announcing a Protected Monument.  

Inside the fenced compound is the signature green lawn of ASI with a small shrine at the far end .  The Vaikunta Perumal Temple . A very simple , dravidian structure with a pillared mukhamantapa and a vimana , raised on a high platform fitted with a stairway. A balipeedam and a  masonry cubicle to Garuda are the other structures in the compound. 

The Sanctum ,  said to house Perumal with Sridevi and Bhudevi,  is locked. But of more interest is the front pillared hall. It is believed to have been the Assembly Hall where the local administrative body met and functioned with The Lord as Witness . The Shrine itself could have been of Pallava origin , as evidenced by a Pallava lion pillar -base standing as Lawn ornament , and later rebuilt by the Cholas with the Assembly Hall. 

Among a bunch of extant Inscriptions on the outer walls of the platform , two stand out . Both inscribed during the reign of Parantaka Chola ( 907 - 955 CE) . They give a very detailed account of the procedures to be followed for electing members to the  local Assembly . The town , at that time , was a Chaturvedimangalam ( a Brahmadeyam /Agraharm) granted to a group of Srivaishnava Brahmins . These donees formed the Sabha ( Assembly) with members from among themselves to manage public offices related to  administrative, judicial , commercial, agricultural & irrigation work. 

This was not the first time such a Sabha was formed and such an Assembly functioned. Sabhas and Variyars ( CEOs) were functioning in Pallava times too. But in Chola  reign , systems were rebooted with fine tunings and upgraded terms and conditions . Scraps of  such data are found embedded in other Chola inscriptions elsewhere too  but this  temple and one other in Thanjavur district are the only places where the full detailed manual has been found , hence the importance. 

(ASI has installed three boards giving details of the inscriptions in easily readable Tamil.)

So, is it about Democracy , as is widely hailed ever since it made it to National news through the PM's speech ? Actually , no it is not about Democracy per se , but only about the Electoral Process for a Sabha of Brahmins. But that itself is laudable and we shall keep  issues of representation and exclusion  aside as not relevant to these inscriptions. 

What exactly are the stones telling us ?

The Who : The Inscription is a minute of proceedings undertaken by Members of the Mahasabha , "residents of Uttirameru Chaturvedi Mangalam of Dhana Kutru , part of Kaaliyur Kottam , who gathered to elect the Annual Committee" from among the 30 Wards  (kudumbu) of the agraharam by "Kudavolai " . Kudam(pot)-Olai(Palm leaf) was the  ingenious Ballot Box . So called because names of eligibles were inscribed on palm leaf "tickets" and deposited into a pot and  lots were drawn from the pot in presence of the deity. Results were  binding on all. 

Eligiblity : Any  Thaman, Digan and Hari couldn't just field himself as a candidate by throwing free lunches, as in Today's Democracy . No sir ! You had to be between 35 and 70 years age ( no greenhorns, no senile nuts ) , be learned in mantras and Vedas ( knowing only Gayatri Mantram will not do, sorry) had to own a minimum of One Quarter Veli of land and pay Tax regularly and live in a legally owned house . 

 Personal Virtues required : Honesty , Pure Mind , non-association with impure things (intoxicants, flesh, unclean people)

Disqualifications : Tax Defaulter ? Application rejected. Guilty / convicted of even one of The Great Sins ? ( Lying, thieving etc etc ) , dont even think of applying. 

Tenure of chosen committee : 360 Days. A person who has served three tenures , cannot contest again .

Right of Dismissal : Once elected , the member cannot relax and have a ball , as is usual now.  If found guilty of  Tax evasion or any of  the other misdemeanours mentioned above during tenure of office , Assembly shall  not only dismiss the Offender , but people of his Kudumbu , related to him in 13 ways will be debarred from contesting ever ( from "defaulter's son" to "sons of Defaulter's Mother's Elder and younger Sisters" and  defaulter's "sons-in-law").....Phew! So if one rascal trips up , he pulls down half the agraharam with him to bite the dust . If such a measure does not instil responsibility in one , nothing will . Wish the system has endured to this day . 

Additional Punitive Clause : If found guilty of  any malfeasance during tenure , not only is he dismissed , he shall also be paraded on a Donkey. There is no mention of "Sempulli-Karumpulli" in the inscription, but for a very long time , even upto 19th Century , in rural South, the punishment for certain offenses was tattooing the guilty one's  face with black and red dots , putting him on a donkey facing backwards and parading him around the village. Shaving the head was bonus 

Kudavolai : Palm Leaf tickets with names of eligible contestants from each ward were bundled  ward-wise and put together into the pot. The pot was kept in the Sanctum , with all people gathered in the mantapa in front of it . A young boy pulled out a bundle and transferred the leaves, loose, into another pot, from which he drew one ticket and handed it over to the Head  Priest. ( called Nambiyars)  The Priest had to receive it with both palms wide open , to ensure that he has not secreted a bogus ticket between his fingers ! When 30 names from thirty bundles were thus selected , sets of members were allotted Variyams  (departments ) according to need . For instance the Tank/irrigation Department had 6 members. 

And so the election went . Fascinating or what ! 

The inscription begins with the date and ends with the name of the Arbitrator who oversaw the election process. 

No one except the Brahmins meeting the qualification requirements could contest . And all would have been only Male , given the kind of requirements.  So strictly , it wasn't a Dance of Democracy , only an Electoral Process  that was  6-Sigma. Bravo !