A 13th-century Tamil stone inscription found at the Thanthondreeswarar Temple, a Shiva shrine at Anandur near Pochampally in Krishnagiri district, records that four Jewish merchant guilds paid for the construction of a hall in the temple. Historians say it is evidence of the presence and economic role of Jewish trading communities in medieval Tamil Nadu, and of trade and cultural exchange between them and local people in South India. The find is significant because it shows foreign merchant groups financing Hindu religious architecture in the medieval period.