Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi general secretary and Villupuram M.P., D. Ravikumar, on Monday asked the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, whether the Government was aware of the numerous 10th century CE from the reign of Aditya Chola-I inscriptions in the Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram and if the Union Government has plans to document, edit and publish these inscriptions in the form of a book for ‘scholarly and public access’.
He further sought to know whether such a publication would be available free of cost or at a subsidised rate to devotees visiting the temple and if it would preserve, publish and distribute the inscriptions, given their historical and cultural significance.
Responding to Mr. Ravikumar, Union Minister Shekhawat said, “Yes. Epigraphy Branch of the Archeological Suvery of India has copied 297 inscriptions from the Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram, the earliest dating to the reign of Rajendra-I (1036 CE). All these inscriptions have been deciphered, transcribed and their gist published in the Annual Reports of Epigraphy from 1888 to 1963. Out of them, texts of 157 inscriptions have been published in the volumes of South Indian inscription.”
