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.

Tracing the Anbil plates

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.

Call for public display

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.