At this juncture, we wish to share with our readers an incident related to the study of Tamil Nadu’s history. In the Lalgudi taluk of the Tiruchirapalli district, there is a village named Anbil. Sanskrit scholars have translated this as “Premapuri.” (This chapter was written in 1951.) About forty-five years ago, a Vellalar from this village began to demolish his old house to rebuild it anew, and as he dug the foundation, a remarkable object was unearthed from beneath the earth. Several copper plates, pierced at the top and strung together with a ring, were discovered. Something had been inscribed on those plates. The plates were so heavy that it took two men to lift them. The Vellalar kept them for some time. Later, when Sri R.S.L. Lakshmana Chettiar came to the village to oversee the renovation of the temple, the Vellalar handed the plates over to him.

Sri Lakshmana Chettiar, suspecting that these plates might contain historical information, took them to the renowned scholar Mahamahopadhyaya Swaminatha Iyer. Upon examining the copper plates, Swaminatha Iyer realized that they contained highly significant details. He handed them over to Sri T.A. Gopinatha Rao, M.A., who was then engaged in the study of stone inscriptions. The moment Sri Gopinatha Rao saw the copper plates, he was as delighted as a man who had discovered a rare treasure. For, inscribed upon them were details of immense importance regarding the lineage of the Chola kings.

The plates contained the record of a land grant of ten velis, given in the fourth year of Emperor Sundara Chola’s reign to Anbil Aniruddha Brahmarayar, the “Manya Mantri” (Chief Minister) of Sundara Chola. The scribe of this land grant, Madhava Battar, had listed the genealogy of the Cholas up to Sundara Chola. He had also described the Vaishnavite lineage of Aniruddha Brahmarayar, mentioning the services rendered by his father, mother, grandfather, and great-grandfather at the temple of Sriranganatha. The genealogy found in the Anbil copper plates closely matched that found in the previously discovered Anaimangalam and Thiruvalangadu copper plates. This confirmed the historical authenticity of the details inscribed on the Anbil plates. Moreover, the Anbil plates contained some additional information not found in the other two sets, making them especially renowned in the field of Tamil historical research.

Therefore, keeping in mind that Aniruddha Brahmarayar is the illustrious minister of the Chola Empire, as celebrated in the chronicles of history, we request our dear readers to continue reading the story further.

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Azhwarkkadiyan entered the mandapam where the chief minister, Aniruddha Brahmarayar, was seated. He circled him three times! Then, prostrating himself in full sashtanga namaskaram, he rose to his feet.

Chanting “Om Hraam Hreem Vashat” in a loud voice four times, he said, “Gurudeva, grant me leave!”

With a smile, Aniruddhar replied, “Thirumalai! What is this commotion? Why do you ask me for leave?”

“Having surrendered the Srivaishnava tradition I have followed, the name ‘Azhwarkkadiyan’, and the fortune of serving you, into this great ocean, I am about to join the heroic Shaiva Kalamukha sect. With a skull bowl in my hand, chanting the mighty mantra ‘Om Hraam Hreem Vashat’, I shall wander from town to town! I will grow matted locks upon my head, a long beard upon my face, and with this staff, I shall split open the skulls of any Srivaishnavas who cross my path…”

“Good heavens! Stop! Stop! Will my own skull meet the same fate?”

“Guru! Do you still adhere to the Srivaishnava tradition?”

“Thirumalai! What doubt do you have about that? Who do you think I am?”

“Who are you? That is precisely what I have begun to doubt. Are you not the grandson of Anbil Ananthalwan Swamigal, who considered service to Sri Ranganatha—He who lies in sacred sleep between two rivers, protecting all the worlds—as the sole purpose of life?”

“Yes, my child! I am he!”

“And are you not the very same Anbil Aniruddha Pattachariyar, who expounded the glory of the name Sriman Narayana to all the world?”

“Yes, I am! They bestowed upon me the holy name of that great man as well!”

“Are you not the very son of Narayana Pattachari, who enchanted countless devotees by singing the nectarous, sweet songs of the Alwars?”

“Yes, father; yes, indeed!”

“And are you not also the son of the jewel among women, who daily lit the eternal lamp in the golden temple of Sri Ranganatha, where the Lord reclines, and who served the pilgrims by offering rice on silver plates?”

“There is no doubt about it!”

“If that is so, then are my eyes deceiving me? Is what I see before me a lie? Are my ears too deceiving me, is what I heard false?”

“What are you saying, father? What has happened to make you doubt your own eyes and ears?”

“My ears heard that you went to the Siva temple in this town and performed abhishekam and archana and all the rituals.”

“That is true; your ears have not deceived you.”

“My eyes see the marks on your sacred body, the signs that you have been to the Siva temple. That too must be true!”

“That is also true!”

“In this Kali Yuga, was it not you, my guru, who taught me that Sriman Narayana alone is God, that the hymns of the Alwars are the true Vedas, and that chanting the name of Hari is the only path to salvation?”

“Yes; but what of it?”

“If you, my guru, say one thing and do another, what is left for me, your disciple, to do?”

“Tirumalai! Are you speaking of my visit to the Siva temple?”

“Guru! Which deity did you worship there?”

“What doubt is there? Narayana Murti, of course!”

“But have I not heard that within the Rameswaram temple, it is a lingam that is installed? Is that not why the fierce Saiva priests here surrounded me and raised such a commotion?”

“My child! Is it not true that we have taken pride in