Demand to bring Anaimangalam Chola-era copper plates to Tamil Nadu gathers momentum

Subscribed with another email? Logout and Login with that one. Account subscription benefits alongside Premium Stories, Editorials, Opinions and more. Unlock these with Subscription The View From India Looking at World Affairs from the Indian perspective. First Day First Show News and reviews from the world of cinema and streaming. Today's Cache Your download of the top 5 technology stories of the day. Science For All The weekly newsletter from science writers takes the jargon out of science and puts the fun in! Data Point Decoding the headlines with facts, figures, and numbers THEdge At the cutting edge of education and careers Health Matters Ramya Kannan writes to you on getting to good health, and staying there Gender Agenda Stories from beyond the binary. The Hindu On Books Books of the week, reviews, excerpts, new titles and features. Published - May 17, 2026 11:34 pm IST - Chenniai The Anaimangalam plates, currently in the possession of Leiden University, belong to Rajendra Chola I’s period and contain a decree originally issued by his father Raja Raja Chola I. | Photo Credit: LINA SELG The demand to bring back the Anaimangalam Chola-era copper plates to Tamil Nadu has gathered momentum. The plates, currently in the possession of Leiden University in the Netherlands, were recently presented to Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to The Hague. Su. Venkatesan, Lok Sabha Member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said 654 antiques from several countries, including the United States, had been brought back to India and kept at Purana Qila in New Delhi. “But they are not on display for people to see them. The same should not happen to the Anaimangalam copper plates. They should be handed over to the Archaeology Department of Tamil Nadu,” he said. The plates, belonging to the period of Rajendra Chola I, contain a decree originally issued by his father Raja Raja Chola I granting the village of Anaimangalam as Pallichchandam. The grant was made to support the Chudamani Vihara, a Buddhist monastery constructed in Nagapattinam. Mr. Venkatesan also pointed out that the Anbil copper plates, which documented the genealogy of the Chola kings, could not be traced even though their contents had been copied. “While Leiden University preserved the Anaimangalam plates, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has not been able to protect the Anbil plates. The ASI should take efforts to trace them,” he said. MDMK general secretary Vaiko also said the plates should be kept at the Nagapattinam museum. R. Komagan, chairman of the Gangaikonda Cholapuram Development Council, said the Anaimangalam copper plates should be brought to Gangaikonda Cholapuram — which served as a capital of the Chola Dynasty for nearly three centuries from the reign of Rajendra Chola I — and placed on permanent public display. “It can be safely exhibited and preserved either within the buildings owned by the ASI inside the temple complex or in areas such as the temple’s mahamandapam,” he added. Copyright© 2026, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. Terms & conditions | Institutional Subscriber Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments. We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.

Demand to bring Anaimangalam Chola-era copper plates to Tamil Nadu gathers momentum

Key takeaways

More in international