The restoration of a 1,000-year-old Shiva temple on the banks of the Vennar River in Thanjavur has led to the discovery of previously unknown Tamil inscriptions. These records detail a massive donation from a local maritime trade guild to fund the temple's daily rituals using gold acquired from 'Eastern Lands'.
Conservationists from the Archaeological Survey of India are using non-invasive chemical cleaning to reveal the text hidden under layers of lime wash. The findings confirm that Chola-era temples served not just as places of worship, but as central financial hubs for the empire's vast maritime trade network.