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A royal charter or a sasana of the Chola kings, misplaced 300 years in the past from Tamil Nadu, is now being preserved within the Leiden University within the Netherlands. Commonly referred to because the “Leiden plates”, it was issued by the kings to a Buddhist vihara.
With the Netherlands relooking at its colonial collections, and planning to return over 10,000 artefacts to the supply nations or former colonies, artwork fanatics say it’s time for India to make efforts to get the crowning glory of the Cholas back.
The charter has two sections — one in Sanskrit and one other in Tamil — and the 21 copper plates are held collectively by a large bronze ring bearing the regal seal of Rajendra Chola. They additionally take care of the geneology of the Chola dynasty and the reign of king Rajaraja I (985-1012 AD), the daddy of Rajendra Chola (1012-1042 AD). It proclaims that 26 villages bordering Anaimangalam have been donated for a Buddhist shrine (vihara), referred to as Chulamanivarmavihara, constructed by the Malay king of Sriwijaya in Nagapattinam, a port city on the Coromandel coast, mentioned S. Vijay Kumar, artwork fanatic and co-founder of the India Pride Project.
The provenance states that the copper plates have been donated in 1862, by successors, to the property of professor Hendrik Arent Hamaker. This charter and one other one have been introduced from India by Florentius Camper, minister of religion in Batavia, in 1703-1712. Recently, a colonial repatriation committee within the Netherlands requested Dutch museums to return artefacts stolen by colonists to international locations resembling Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Some museums have determined to return greater than 1,00,000 reveals, taken by pressure, throughout the colonial instances.
“The legal case for the restitution of the two Leiden grants are unclear, as the circumstances around how Mr. Camper obtained them from India and brought them to Leiden in 1700 are not available,” mentioned Mr. Kumar. However, India ought to enchantment to the Netherlands for the return of those necessary plates, particularly contemplating the latest initiative of the choose committee, advising the Dutch authorities to return colonial collections to the erstwhile colonies, for the reason that case of the Leiden plates isn’t any totally different from the objects returning residence, he mentioned. “We hope they are returned, so they can be displayed, rather reunited with Rajendra Chola’s grand edifice in the Gangaikonda Cholapuram temple,” he mentioned.
The charters are seen as testimony to how the Buddhist centre of studying and spirituality flourished, benefiting from the benevolence of king Rajaraja, who constructed a Brihadeeswara temple in Thanjavur. “The copper plates are an important evidence on the history of the Chola period. They also talk about the conquests, accomplishments and expeditions to the far east,” retired archaeological officer C. Santhalingam mentioned.
Thangam Thennarasu, DMK MLA and former School Education Minister, mentioned, “Since they are returning artefacts to the source nations, it is the right time for the State and the Centre to take steps to retrieve them. We call the charters ‘Anaimangalam’ copper plates.”
“Anbil plates are also very important. They give a lot of information about Chola history. No one knows its present location. The government should find their current location and retrieve them,” mentioned Mr. Thennarasu.
Tamil Official Language and Tamil Culture Minister Ma Foi {K}. Pandiarajan advised Puucho News, “We are seized of the matter and have taken steps to retrieve the precious copper plates from the Netherlands. We have requested the Union Ministry of Culture to expedite the process,” he mentioned.
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