South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

EIGHT INSCRIPTIONS OF KADAVARAYA CHIEFS

possessions of the Karṇāṭas of the western region were diminished,^[1] and the Teluṅgas of the northern region perished in their own quarter ;^[2] reaching the high walls of the enemy kings destroyed their cities, hills and fortifications ; who had carved his kings’s vāgai,^[3]kuraṅgu and victory on the Hill of Nannan fitly extolled (by bards) and filled with rutting elephants in order that all the fame of conquests might appear prominently ; and who was the Gaṅgaya who marched in the van of the rutting elephant forces of Āṭkoṇḍadēvan of long spear used in waging battles. If a poet has to recount all the benefactions which he had willingly made, out of great devotion which filled his mind, to the nectar-eyed god of Aṇṇāmalai,who had his consort in his body (they would be as follows) :─

one sacred pavilion (maṇḍapa), wherein was accommodated the god, was firmly constructed under the name of Āṭkoṇḍadēvan Vēṇāvuḍaiyān, of victorious arms, who had won lasting ancient fame and who had protected the whole world, that it might endure for a number of years : one finely scented sacred bed-chamber made of gold ; a big pavilion where the sacred offerings had to be placed ; one elaborately made Tirakkākkaḷḷi ; one sacred pavilion called after Avaniyāḷappirandān of great power ; one śilātaḷa made with stones cut from the hills of kings that did not submit themselves and carried on the heads of those kings ;^[4] which śilātaḷa formed as it were the lowest of the three worlds and emitted such lustre as that which issues from the white moon^[5] and which was circumambulated by the Dēvas, whose beautiful flower garlands do not fade, whose eyes do not wink and whose feet do not touch the ground ;

one great treasury called after Niśśaṅkamallan so formed as to receive in it such wealth that could not be exhausted even in numberless yugas.

In order to show the form which the crescent-headed god had assumed now, in settling down here and also his former form, (one) image of Kaṅkāḷa, in which form the god begged his food from house to house from the damsels whose proud eyes resembled the blade of a sword, was made ;

(one) car6 with four faces so made that the gods of the celestial region might offer their obeisance and (one) long street6 similarly formed for the goddess ;

the Gāṅgayan-maḍam (was so) constructed like a hill for the permanent residence of the ascetics studying the arts that it made resplendent the street which was ornamented with gems lustrous like the sun is its circumambulatory course through the quarters ;

(one) large sacred garden (called) Vāḷvallaperumāḷ-tōppu with an exuberance of fine fragrance, which produced the south wind during the summer season,─like the breeze caused by the waving of chowries, on either side of the god who resides in the forest, and to whom the Dēvas offer their prayers ;

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^[1] It may also be translated as ‘made the Karṇāṭas of the western region to go to the southern quarter, i.e., made them die’.
^[2] This may also be rendered as ‘made the Teluṅgas of the northern region to meet with their end by taking to prāyōpavēśa’.
^[3]Vāgai is a particular kind of garland usually worn by kings. In the case of the Pāṇḍya it was made of vēṅgai, in the case of the Chōḷa it was made of ātti, and in the case of the Chēra it consisted of vañji flowers.
^[4] See for a similar action in Śilappadigāram, 27, l. 4f.
^[5]veṇ-madi-nilavil, etc. This may also be rendered ‘that the pavement emitted brilliance during moon-light’.
^[6]That an object similar to the one made for the god was also made for the goddess is clear from the adjunct appoḍivagutta. If so, the words teru or tēru in the first instance and teruvun= in the second instance must refer to one object which may be either tēr (car) or teruvu (street). As such we have either to consider that if a street (teru) is meant we must suppose that vum is omitted in the first instance, and if a car (tēr) is intended vu is wrongly inserted in the second instance. The translation given here follows the words that occur in the text, viz.,tēru[m*] and teruvun=. Since the reading teruvuñ= is clear, it seems to me that in all likelihood vum is omitted after tera in the first instance.