HISTORY OF TIRUPATI

ENDOWMENTS AND GIFTS
CHAPTER II
1. Endowments

The only source of information about "the endowments of Land and gifts of articles" made to the temple from time to time is that which is contained in the inscriptions on the stone walls of the temple and on some stray slabs of stone. Inscription on stone seems to have been the recognised method of making a permanent record of public endowments. Grants or gifts made in favour of private individuals were generally recorded by engraving on copper plates and attaching to them the seal of the King. It is doubtful if the same method was ever adopted in making endowments to temples after stone masonry became a permanent feature of temple architecture. Grants made for doing service in temples have been usually recorded on copper plates. Copper-plates would have remained with the grantee and his descendants but stone inscriptions remain in public places and any interested person has the right to claim protection to the endowment. Two of our stone inscriptions viz., I-18, 1018 A.D. I-36, 1225 A.D. specify instances in which the interested worshippers instituted proceedings against defaulting trustees on the evidence of inscriptions on stone and obtained redress. A stone inscription in a public place cannot be so easily destroyed or tampered with as a copper plate grant. The inscriptions on the temple walls may therefore be taken as a fairly complete and reliable record of endowments and gifts made until we come to later centuries when the practice was given up or when endowments were not made. Our information about what happened during the later period, i.e. after 1684 A.D., is practically nil.

From the inscription dated 1013 A.D. we learn that the village of Tirumandiyam, situated near Chiratanur, was a devadanam villlage belonged to Thiruvengada Devar and that the sabhaiyars of that village who were doing paricharakam service (or helping the archakas during worship) in the same temple were in the enjoyment of that village. They seem to have also been paid wages for doing the service. Some endowments seem to have been made by a number of donors in the shape of gold Kalanju for the daily lighting lamps in the temple and the sabhaiyar of Thirumandiyam accepted the gold and agreed to be the trustees for the performance of the service. We are not however told in which place the inscriptions were made. But after due enquiry the performance of the service was enforced. There was not obviously at that time a well organised body of managers for the temple. From the inscription 1-19 and from 1-18 of 1008 A.D. and 1-36 of 1225A.D. (Ins. 1-19) it is inferred that endowment in the shape of lands for the performance of specific services had not then come into use. Gold or gold coins would be given to some person or other doing service in the temple and that person would have invested the gold in the best way he could and perform the service on behalf of the donor who may have been a stranger to the place. The two inscriptions 1-18 of 1008 A.D. and 1-36 of 1225 A.D. refer to an identically same endowment of about 26 kalanju made for performance of an abhishekam service in the Siva Temple of Tiruchuganur, the date of endowment being 1008 A.D: After the lapse of over two centuries, the complaint was lodged with the officer of the Chola Government that the performance of the service was in default, the only evidence being the stone inscription of 1008 A.D. " After due enquiry, the amount was recovered from the defaulters and paid to the Gurukkal (or archakas) of the temple who became the new trustees.

There is another type of endowment shown in inscriptions 1-4 and 1-7. The former tells us that the king's Revenue in gold collected by the Bayyan Koil (a local revenue officer) was ordered by the local Bana Ruler Vijayaditya about 880 A.D. to be used for making payments of salaries to two temple servants known as Koyirkon and Vallu-vakon and also for daily lighting service in three shrines. The other inscription (1- 7) tells, us that the administrative officers ( or Puravu) of Thiru-chuganur village decided to make use of the nett revenue collected in the village, after making payments for all obligatory and essential services, for the maintenance of the local temple. This decision appears to have been taken just after the downfall of the Pallava Empire about 898 A.D. In this connection yet another inscription 1-21 of 1073 A.D. may be noticed. According to this inscription an officer of Virarajendra Chola Devar by name Naranadeva handed over every year to the Shiva temple in Thiruchuganur for maintaining Nandavilakku (perpetual lights) certain taxes known as Vattikkadu and Tiru-gukkasu from Munjapudi village. Cows were also offered to the temple in order that the ghee produced from their milk might be used for the burning of the lamps. We have also noticed the arrangements made by Samavai for the management of the land and the custody of the jewellery endowed by her for the silver image of Manavalapperumal in the Tirumalai temple (in 966 A.D.). This is the first properly worded document which gives full description of all the items composing the property, in whom the property was vested for management, the services to be performed, and lastly the right of all Sri Vaishnavas to protect the endowment (Sri Vai-shnava Raksha-nam); though there is no mention how, from whom and for what consideration each item was acquired; (Vide 1.8 and 9).

The safety of endowments depended entirely on the permanency of the stone inscriptions. Endowment of land for the general purposes of the temple seems to have been made by the king. There is however no means of forming a real picture of the situation. The first private endowment was Samavai's in 966 A.D. It was only in 1193 A.D. that the next grant of land was made by Virarakshasa Yadavaraya 1-82 (who was not the ruler) for a daily food offering of Sri Venkatesa called Tirumanthra tirupponakam. The insufficiency of funds to meet the growing demands for the adequate performance of the daily services seems however to have been keenly felt. As evidence of this there is an incomplete inscription 1-174 on the north base of the first or inner Gopuram in the Tirumala Temple which warns the servants of the temple that they should be satisfied with such simple food as the temple is able to provide. On the south base of the same Gopuram there is another inscription 1-81 of the year 1209 A.D. which tells us that the Yadavaraya Ruler Tirukkalathi Devar in response to the petition of the Sthanattar of the temple made a tax free grant of all lands which lay within the boundaries of Kudavurnadu. This was a grant for the general purposes of the temple and not for any specific service. The village of Padirivedu in Asvamukkilainadu was granted in 1262 A.D. by Vira Narasinga Deva Yadavaraya for the daily food offering to Tiruvengadamudaiyan but did not fetter the discretion of the Sthanattar in regard to quantity, time etc. Two years later in 1264 A.D. Sundara Pandya Devar, the. Pandya King, made a grant of two villages in Manavi Kottam and Payur Kottam on the south bank of the Kaveri river. Their names however are missing in the inscription. An inscription of the year 1234 A.D. I (the 30th year of the reign of Virana(asinga Yadavaraya) shows that the second half of Payindipalle village was given as sarvamanyam grant to the temple of Sri Govindarajaswamy, the first half having already been the property of the Tiruvengadam Temple.

A fairly complete list of all the villages owned by the Tiruvengadam Temple, which are designated as Tiruvidayattam villages whose income was not earmarked for any specific services is found given in two inscriptions 1-201; 202 of the year 1433 A.D. during the reign of the Vizianagar king Devaraya Maharaya II. These comprise all the villages included in Tirukkudavur Nadu and Vaikuntavalanadu and also Avilala Kunrapakkam, Paid, Thiruvengadanattur, Korlamangalam, Addittan Palli, Panakam, Kalidiramangalam, Payidipalli, Ilamandayam, Vikramaditya, Mangalam, Padupatla, Vadur, Kottalam, Nichukkupalle. A part of Siddakutta was also a temple village. All these were in the language of the temple, "Sri Bhandaram Tiruvidayattam" villages; and the Sthanattar had the liberty to utilise the annual income, from these for any of the purposes connected with the administration of the temple.

But endowments were mostly for the performance of specific services, such as daily food offerings, or Abishekam or a festival from out of the annual income. For the management of all the estates separate department was established known as the Thiruppani Bandaram or the department of works. In making an endowment of the village of Durgasamudram in 1482 A.D. for the exclusive purpose of construction and repairs of temple structures, the donor Saluva Narasimharaya made the Tiruppani Bhandarattar trustess for the same. The collection of revenues and the repairs and improvements to irrigation sources in all the temple owned villages were also attended to by them. It is not however stated in any of the inscriptions how the funds required for these were raised. Very many inscriptions which record cash endowments make it clear that the Sthanattar were permitted to utilise them for the improvement ot and repairs to existing irrigation works and also for the excavation of new ones in the temple owned village. The increased yield thereby secured was to be utilised for the performance of new services detailed in the concerned inscription. In cases where it was not possible to realise the expected income, the Sthanattar suspended the performance of the service and gave notice to the donor or to one of his descendants to take back the village and endow a better one, or to carry out such repairs would make the property, yield the necessary income. There are also instances in which the donor as well as the Sthanattar agreed that the donor and his descendants should be in possession of the lands as lessees and supply every year the funds required for the performance of the service.

There are again a few instances of endowments made in favour of private parties doing some service or other in the temple, or interested in the performance of it. They were allowed to enjoy the nett annual income after charges for the due performance of the service were met. The earliest instance of such an endowment is the one which was made by a person named Pokklara Pandyadarayar in favour of the Kaikkolar of Tiruchanur in the fourth year of the reign of the Chola King Raja Raja Devar (1220 A.D.). He granted 6 patti of land to be enjoyed by them subject to the performance of some service (the nature of which is missing in the inscription) during the Panguni festival of Alagiya Perumal. Other instances of a similar nature made by the same person are the grant of 6 patti of land in favour of the Seva brahmanas of the temple of Tippaladisvara Mudaya for offering the deity. Tiruvardhajamappadi and the Tiruveluchchippadi and the grant of another 6 patta of land to the residents of Munjappundi for the performance of certain Ubhayams during the masi festival of the same temple. The grant of half of the village of Pongalur by Tiruvengadanatha yadavaraya in favour of Singayyadamayaka was similarly burdened with the services of Adi- Tirunal and the sitakaragandam Sandhi for Tiruvengadamudayan. The transfer of the Arisnalayam Tirunandavanam etc., in 1336 A.D. to a certain Siyar was also burdened with the performance of certain service during the annual festival. The grant of the village of Siddhakkutta to the 24 Mahajanams in 1433-A.D. was burdened with the performance of the Vedaparayanam service in Tirumala. Later during the reign of Saluva Narasimha, the village of Gundippundi was granted in 1484 A.D. (11.81) in favour of Kandada Ramanuja Ayyangar's Ramanujakutam to enable to the Sattada Srivaishnavas attached to it to supply every day the parimalam articles or perfumery etc., required for the Tirumanjanam (bathing) of the idols in Tirumalai and 'in Tirupati. But the bulk of the endowments made by the Kings and by private parties, whether they were in the shape of lands or in cash, were in favour, of the sthanattars who were the regularly constituted trustees for, all endowments. They had control even over the endowments burdened with service and made. in favoui of private parties. A list of all endowments of lands is attached to this chapter.

2. GIFTS

Gifts of valuable articles and jewellery made by kings and devotees are also recorded in the inscriptions. The earliest gifts were the jewels for Manavalapperumal made by Samavai in 966 A.D. The next one was the gold pat tam set with precious stones, and weighing 52 Kalanju of gold presented by Queen Parantaka Devi Amma in 1000 A.D. Sunda a Pandya Devar is considered to have gold gilted the Kalasam of the central vimanam of the Tirualalai Shrine about 1260 A.D.1' Viranarasimha Yadavaraya is said to have weighed himself against go1d about 1250 A.D; and used that gold for making the Tirumala Temple rival Suragiri (Mount Meru) in sp1endour. Obala Raja of Tanjai presented a gold Vaikuntha hastham for the Main Deity in 1250 A.D. Mangideva Maharaja gold gilt the central vimanam in Tirumala in 1359. In the matter of making presents, Sri Krishnadeva Maharaya however excelled all the others. All the Tiruvabharanams and gold vessel ,presented by him (and by his successors as well) are listed in a note attached to this chapter. Many of these may still be in a existence. The makara toranam of gold set with precious stones, the Navaratna Kireetam and the swords are still to be seen. The central Vimanam was gold gilt by him at a cost of 30,000 gold Varahas. These presents have to be greatly valued for their antiquity and preserved carefully as mementos of the Vijayanagar Emperors.

Endowments of Villages and Lands

The form and the extent which the endowment of lands and villages took, varied from century to century as the result of experience gained. This subject will now be considered at some length.

The first endowments were two in number made almost simultaneously in 966 A.D. by the same lady Samavai. The first endowment consisted of eight pieces of land under cultivation which were purchased from different parties (including the Tiruchchukanur temple land). These aggregated to 3000 Kulis or three patties (equivalent to about 10 acres according;o present measurements). The second endowment consisted of ten plots of cultivated land aggregating to about 4 patties or 13. 1/3 acres. The share of the temple from the produce of these two endowment lands could have been 600 marakkals per year in the first case and 800 Marakkals in the second case. The first endowment made a provision of one Marakkal (4 Nali) of rice for the daily mimandam or food offering. It has to be presumed from the wording of this inscription (dated 966 A.D.) as compared with the wording in another inscription 1-35 of the year 1223 A.D. that only one food offering was intended to be made in 966 A.D. whereas by the year 1223 A.D. the practice grew of making one during the day and another during the night. It is also noticed that in 1193 A.D. Veerarakshasa Yadavaraya 'endowed 1-82 lands for making a food offering of one Tirupponakavu (one Marakkal of rice) at the time of Tirumantram ( or Mantra pushpam). The endowment made in 1223 A.D. was for Siva temple of Tippaladisvara-mudayan in Tiruchchukanur and consisted of lands aggregating to 6 patties as against 3 patties (1-8) which Samavai made for one food offering during the day time. We therefore infer from these two inscriptions that in the earliest days of our temple one food offering during the day was considered sufficient and that it was only in later times that a night food offering was instituted.

The endowment of 3 patti and the endowment of 6 patti of land referred to above included provision for certain other service besides the daily food offering. In the first case the performance of abhishekam to the deity on the occasion of the four quarterly Sankramanams and the Ankurarpanam and street procession (probably during day time only) on eleven days in connection with Purattasi Tirunal of Sri Venkateswara formed the services to be performed from the yield of paddy. 'It may be noted here that out of 730 Marakkals of rice 365 Marakkals would have been given for the daily nimandam, leaving 365 Marakkals for the other services and particularly the Purattasi Tirunal. This has necessarily to be inferred from the fact that for a seven days new tirukkodi tirunal festival instituted by the same lady in connection with the Tirudvadasi, the endowment consisted of 13 1/3 acres of land with a probable yield or 970 marakkals of rice. There would therefore have been, in existence a much earlier endowment which provided for the Purattasi Brahmotsavam which perhaps did not contemplate the Ankurarpana Dhvajarohanam and street processions which Samavai's endowment made it possible to celebrate. In like manner endowment made in 1223 A.D. for the Siva Temple at Tiruchchukanur contained a supplementary provision for the performance once a year of Tiruchchukanurpadi using 30 tumu of rice, 4 nali of ghee etc. It may therefore be stated that 10 acres of land was considered a sufficient endowment for one food offering of 4 nali (I marakkal of rice, which in later years came to be called once Tiruppanakam. This was the unit of endowment for food offerings). It was perhaps not considered necessary that whole village endowments should be made for the performance of the essential religious services in the temple. There was also the absence of a competent body of managers for the properties of the Temple.

The next phase is the endowment of a whole village which was done in 1209 A.D. by Tirukkalathi devayadavaraya in response to an appeal made by the Sthanattar (the new body of secular managers of the temple, pointing out the inadequacy of funds for the proper conduct of worship. He made a tax free grant of all the wet and dry lands within the boundaries of Kudavar (1-81,1209 A.D.) execpting a portion which was already a devadhanam (probably in favour of the village deity). He gave it for the Nimandam or food offering in the temple. It is not clear from the inscriptions whether there was a night offering in 1209 A.D. His son Virarakshasa alias Singappillai (as already mentioned) made an endowment in 1193 A.D. for one Tirupponakam to be offered after Mantrapushpam during the morning puja. The practice of endowing 6 pattis of land continued in Tiruchchukanur as long as the Chola Kings were the overlords of the country. There are two instances where land was made fit for cultivation and granted to private parties (the kaikkolars of Tiruchchukanur and the residents of Menyaippads) as service inams, the service being in connection with the annual festival of Alagiya Perumal in the month of panguni (1-34, 1220 A.D.) in one case and the other the masi festival of Tippaladisvaramudayan in Tiruchchukanur (1-38, 1240 A.D.). In the latter case they had to pay every year 4 vatti of paddy and 4 Pon or gold coin to the Sri Bhandaram. In the former inscription (1220 A.D.), the term Tiruvidaiyattam occurs for the first time to define the Temple lands. This word probably has the meaning that the lands were given away to the temple and that the state has no claim to any portion of the produce. From another inscription of the 30th year of the reign of the local ruler Veera Narasinga Yadavaraya which records the grant half of the village of Payindipalli in Kudavurnadu for the celebrations of the Ani festival of Sri Govindaraja (1-86, 1235 A.D.), it is learnt that the other half of the village was already the Sarvamanyam property of Sri Venkateswara (1-44 1262 A.D.). In 1262 A.D. Veera Narasingayadavaraya made Paderivedu village a Sarvamanya grant to Sri Venkateswara. So far as the temple villages were concerned, this word Sarvamanya indicates that the Sthanattar were entitled to collect all kinds of the usuall egitimate taxes in favour. of the temple besides the portion of the produce from land which the cultivator had to deliver. These Tiruvidaiyattam villages gradually increased in numbers. These Tiruvidaiyattam grants were made mostly during the days of the Chola and the Pandyan Kings and particularly by the local Yadavaraya rulers who were subordinate to them. There are a number of endowments made by the Telugu Pallava Rulers and their adherents between 1250 and 1280 A.D. but they were all in the shape of Varahappanam gold coins or in the shape of rice during the, special festival days. They were the first to introduce the recitation of portIons of Prabhandam songs followed by food offerings.

The acceptance of whole villages as Tiruvidaiyattam lands, imposed great responsibilities on the Sthanattar. They had to deal direct with the cultivators. They had to make waste lands fit for cultivation, create facilities for irrigation, import tenants for farming and fix suitable terms for apportionment of the produce. They had also to collect the several kinds of taxes, besides the land tax. A new department of the temple called the Tiruppani Bhandaram was created for this purpose and they were subordinate to the Sthanattar .

By the time the Pandyan authority and the Yadavaraya Rule came to an end and the new Vijayanagar authority had asserted itself, it was found that during the reign of Devaraya Maharaya II, the Tirumalai temple had acquired a large number of villages as its exclusive landed property. A list of these-it may not have been complete list-has already been shown in the earlier part of this chapter. For the development of agriculture in these villages the excavation of spring channels and the construction of new tanks were undertaken during the rule of Saluva Narasimharaya who was the Viceroy of the Vijayanagar King for this part of the Kingdom. He and his five cousins who were all ruling chiefs with the title of Mahamandalesvara and Maharaja made large contributions not only by grant of villages but also by the excavation of irrigation channels at their own cost. An ardent Sri Vaishnava by name Kandadai Ramanuja Ayyangar was Narasimha's able assistant in this work. During the period from about 1460 to 1490 improvement of irrigation resources was the main task for the Sthanattar and the Tiruppani Bhandarattar Endowments in the shape of cash were made by numerous private individuals as well. From the increased yield of paddy consequent on the improvements made by these cash endowments, certain food offerings and festivals were added to the existing ones.

Vittavan Villukkadu

In the meantime the practice grew up of the donor of an endowment reserving to himself one fourth of the quantity of food offered. Many of the donors did not and would not in practice receive their daily share in person. It gradually became an established custom that this food was distributed among the Sthanattar and a few other servants of the temple. This was in addition to their usual share from out of the three fourths quantity of each food offering which by a previously established custom was distributed among temple establishment as remuneration in kind. All this food was not needed for their daily consumption and was therefore offered for sale to pilgrims through middlemen who made this their profession. This was a profitable trade in spite of the fact that Saluva Narasimha maintained two Satrams in Tirumalai where food was distributed free to pilgrims. It is also a moot point whether all the quantity of rice which the numerous inscriptions mention as endowments were actually cooked and offered to the Deity.

Endowment of annual produce from land or of taxes, etc.

It was already pointed out in another chapter that the grants made by Sri Krishnadeva Maharaya were not villages of the Tiruvidaiyattam pattern which gave room to the Sthanattar to solicit large money endowments for improvements to irrigation channels which might not have been actually used for the purpose. His endowment of villages limited the right of the Sthanattar to the Raya Bhandaram share of the produce in cash and grain, the cultivators remaining under the control of the Government for all other purposes. From the produce so collected and handed over to them by the King's officers whether in kind or cash, the Sthanattar were expected to perform the services mentioned in the respective inscriptions. Sri Krishna Devaraya also introduced a new type of endowment by handing over to the Sthanattar annually a portion of certain taxes collected by the state in a number of villages or provinces. Achyutaraya did the same for the celebration of Lakshmidevi Mahotsavam. This may have been due to the realisation that the Sthanattar were not successful as administrators of estates and collectors of revenue. Malpractices may also have been suspected. Another noteworthy fact is that neither Krishnadeva Raya nor his successors made cash endowments, leaving it to the Sthanattar to expend the money for irrigation, improvements. But private parties who desired to make permanent arrangements for daily services and festivals had necessarily to leave the money in the hands of the Sthanattar. There were many exceptions where private persons granted villages; and some of them ,soon found that tile income had decreased owing to the incapacity of the Sthanattar and supplementary arrangements had therefore to be made.

Sadasivaraya Maharaya went a step further. Even the payment of a portion of the tax collected was not handed over to the Sthanattar to be used in the temple. He gave it to the manager of the free feeding house or chatra attached to the Nammalwar Shrine in Tirupati where thousands of pilgrims were fed sumptuously every day and where there was no distribution of any portion of the food among the servants of the temple and the, Sthanattar. As a solace to the disgruntled Sthanattar, Sadasivaraya's minister, Araviti Aliya Ramaraja made an endowment for offering daily 200 taligai in Tirumalai. He took care at the same time to see that 50 taligai from out of this went to the Nammalwar Temple Ramanujakutam in Tirupati for free distribution to pilgrims.

The battle of Talikota in 1565 A.D. however brought a sudden end to all reckless endowments being made by private individuals. There is not a single endowment of any kind after that date made by any of Aravidu Kings of Vijayanagar. Some of the commanders of their army and several religiously minded men, including acharyapurushas and others intimately connected with the temple made endowments for certain festivals; most of these endowments were for festivals connected with Sri Govindarajaswami Temple in Tirupati, Very few relate to the Tirumala Temple.

From the days of Achutaraya, donors were particular to mention in the inscriptions the annual expected income from endowment. The cost of the various services for which the endowment was made was also given in detail. This served as a sort of check on the Sthanattar. But due to mismanagement or for other reasons these calculations 'were upset in some cases. The inscriptions of the post-Talikota period however assumed a more definite character. The (2) taxes known as Melakkai, Magamai, Kodai, etc., levied in Kondaveedu rajyam, Chanji, Tiruvadi, Bongagiri, Pattanam, Solamandalam, Tiruvannamalai, Kanchipuram, Chandragirirajyam, Palayam, Palvirkadu, Mudupankavppattanam and Penukonda Seema (3) the taxes known as ayam, Arapu, Uttarayam, Peryam, Magamai, Mulai-visam and Taragu levied in the North Rajyam regions of Udayagiri and Kondavidu Seema. All the above taxes were given as a sacred gift. We have in this inscription at least eleven taxes distinctly enumerated. What the annual income from these would have been is not given in this inscription. The third inscription, though an incomplete one, tells us that the Kadama and ayam taxes to which the donor Thimmayya was entitled were gifted away to the temple. Reading together the inscriptions cited above it is plain that the undermentioned taxes continued to be in force till at least the end of the seventeenth century A.D.

1. Ponvarjam including Ponvari, which was also known as Swarnadayam.
2. Dhanyavargam including Kadamai Ayam, Kar and Kodai.
3. The taxes known as Vasalvari (House Tax) Perkadamai (possibly a pilgrim tax), Shandy Tax, Magamai levied during festivals, tax on backyard gardens., tax on leases Tarikkadamai (tax on looms), tax on articles imported into a place or passing through it.
4. Peryam, Uttarayam, UlIayam, Nityamu-lavirannadu, Talarikkam, Madarikkam.
5. Tax for maintenance of irrigation channels, tax on palmyra and date trees, tax known locally as Palepalli vritti, and Alwar Mudalaiyar Palayam, Magayam, Kilvari and Silvari.
6. Tax on Navasaranyasa Vargam and Teppati Sarakka articles of trade, Melagi, Aruppu, Mulaivisam and Taragu.

The old taxes which are noticeably missing in the above list are the Pandivari and the Ballaladevar Vari Amanjevari, all the Kanikkais (such as Tiruttayar Kanikkai, Tirumaruganar Kanikkai, Akkam Kanikkai, Pillaigal Kanikkai) Kartigai Kanikkai which obviously was for the celebration of the Karteeka Festival locally in each village, taxes on the three stages of marriage proposals, free supply of good cows and good bulls and the first fruits and flowers from a garden. But they were never considered as taxes but only as free will gifts. They passed in due course to the stage of being considered as usages and customs of a cultured community.