Chennai: During the desilting of Medavakkam tank, volunteers stumbled upon a rare 13th-century Chola-era inscription. Experts say the inscription details the construction of a sluice in the ancient Monavakkam lake by the Telugu Chola king Sri Vijaya Kanda Gopalan.“The sluice was built by a merchant in 1268 CE, during the 20th regnal year of the king, for irrigation. It is evidence of an ancient water management system,” said senior epigraphist S Rajavelu, who deciphered the inscription. Monavakkam is today known as Medavakkam.“This rare inscription is an indication that Chennai had several lakes in its surrounding areas for both drinking water and irrigation purposes,” he added. He also called for protection of lakes with historic significance.“The ancient Medavakkam lake might have once been huge, but now it is restricted to a small area,” said M Poongundran, from Pavaleru Thamizh Kalam in Medavakkam, an organisation whose volunteer N Arjun Shankar found the inscription during restoration of the tank.Different dynasties that ruled Tamil Nadu, including the Pallavas, Cholas and Vijayanagara kings, were focused on creating several hundred lakes in the ancient ‘Thondai Mandalam’ which is present-day north Tamil Nadu.
