Abstract The present study undertakes an epigraphical examination of selected Chola-period inscriptions from Udaiyargudi, Govindaputtur, Sripuranthan, and Narthamalai, with reference to their titulary formulations, institutional descriptions, genealogical evidence, and topographical correlations. The enquiry is based primarily upon records published in South Indian Inscriptions, Epigraphia Indica, the Annual Reports on Epigraphy, and the Anbil Copper Plates of Sundara Chola. Particular attention is directed to the composite titulary expressions "Araiyan Mahimalayan alias Parantaka Muttaraiyan" and "Araiyan Sankaranarayanan alias Sola Muttaraiyan," examined in relation to their structural components and in comparison with genealogical material in Telugu Chola records and the Anbil Copper Plates, wherein the Sanskrit form Mutturāja occurs as a rank designation for junior princes. The study further demonstrates, through the Narthamalai inscriptions, that this tradition is attested within the Imperial Chola family itself from the ninth century — correcting the long-standing assumption that Muttaraiyar and Cholas were separate clans. The Govindaputtur inscriptions record the construction of "Sri Kailasathu Alvar" by "Araiyan Sankaranarayanan alias Sola Muttaraiyan." A newly examined inscription of Rajaraja Chola I's 29th regnal year at Gangajatatheesvarar Temple, Govindaputtur, establishes that this temple held the Moola Pandaram (main treasury) for the entire Kollidam sacred network, including the south bank temple at Thirupurambiyam where Rajaraja I's birth festival was celebrated. A critical misreading in South Indian Inscriptions Vol. 34 — "Narathonga Pereri" for "Parantaka Pereri" — is identified and corrected. On the basis of cumulative inscriptional evidence, the study examines the identification of the builder with Arunmozhi Varman and the implications for the Sankaranarayanan Temple at Thanjavur as a memorial foundation (pallippadai). Keywords: Rajaraja Chola I; Arunmozhi Varman; Sankaranarayanan Temple; Pallippadai; Thanjavur; Sripuranthan; Govindaputtur; Uttama Chola; Chola Epigraphy; Muttaraiyan; Araiyan Sankaranarayanan; Narthamalai; Vijayalaya Chola; Moola Pandaram; Kollidam
Jegan Sundararajan (Tue,) studied this question.