South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

Over half a century ago the late Dr. Fleet noticed in this journal seven inscriptions^[1] from this place, three of which were edited in full. In the course of my annual tour during the field season of 1951-52, I visited Ablūr (January 1952) and explored its antiquities. My investigations revealed that this village contained a large number of inscriptions many of which were not known to Fleet and that some important points connected with its antiquities were also lost sight of. In all I discovered thirteen more inscriptions. I propose to study a few of these here briefly.

Most of the interesting facts regarding the activities of ēkāntada Rāmayya,^[2] the militant protagonist of the Śaiva upheaval, are centred in the temple of Sōmēśvara. Besides the epigraph E^[3] furnishing a graphic account of his miraculous exploits^[4] this temple contains an inscription above a panel of sculptures depicting the scene of Rāmayya’s encounter with the Jainas as described by Fleet.^[5] As there are some errors in the understanding and reading of this record (F) by Fleet, I may point them out here in the first instance.

Firstly, it is a label inscription and the word ṭāvu appears to have been used in a rather technical sense denoting ‘ a place representing the scene of.’ We meet with its variant ṭāü and ṭhāvu in other inscriptions at this temple, which we shall study presently. The expression ṭāvu may be derived from the Sanskrit root sthā, though it appears to have been influenced in its formation by Prakrit. It is interesting to note in this context that the labels in Tamil incised near the sculptures representing incidents in the Pallava history, found in the Vaikuṇṭhaperumāḷ temple at Kāñchīpuram, similarly end with the word iḍam^[6] meaning likewise ‘a place, etc.’. Secondly, the epigraph is not incomplete and none of its letters is missing as supposed by Fleet. The first line ends properly with the word kudureya- and continues in the second. At the end of the second line, again, it is unnecessary to supply some letters through brackets as done by Fleet. For its continuation is found on the front side of the parapet wall and it reads almost exactly as conjectured by Fleet. The whole inscription now reads as follows :─

TEXT (Fleet’s F)^[7]

1 Śrī-Brahmēsva(śva)ra-dēvaralli ēkāntada-Rāmayyaṁ basadiya Jinan=oḍḍav-āgi taleyan=aridu haḍeda ṭāva || Saṁka-gāvuṇḍaṁ basadiyan=oḍeyal=īyade āḷuṁ-kudureya- 2 n=oḍḍiralu ēkāntada Rāmayyam kādi geldu Jinan=oḍedu liṅga-pratishṭe(ṭhe)yaṁ māḍida ṭā[vu] [ ||*]

TRANSLATION

This is the place representing how, at ( the temple of ) the illustrious god Brahmēśvara, ēkāntada Rāmayya laid a wager, at the cost of the Jina of the shrine, of cutting off his head and received it back again. When Saṅka-gāvuṇḍa would not let him destroy the shrine of the Jina,

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^[1] Above, Vol. V. pp. 213 ff. ; inscriptions A to G.
^[2] The epithet ēkāntada appears to have been acquired by Rāmayya after his victory over the Jainas. In
lines 28-29 of inscription E the propriety of this epithet is justified on the ground of his firm and single-minded
devotion to Śiva. But it appears reasonable to add that he might as well have claimed it to bring into contrast his great achievement which consisted in vanquishing the doctrine of Anēkānta that characterised the Jaina
faith.
^[3] Above, Vol. V, pp. 237 ff.
^[4] It is of interest to note that the achievement of ēkāntada Rāmayya against the Jainas is also described in one of his compositions in the Ragaḷe metre by Harihara, a Kannaḍa poet of about the 13th century. Harihara’s account agrees in many respects with that of the Ablūr inscription E.
^[5] Above, Vol. V. pp. 260-61.
^[6] SII. Vol. IV, No. 135.
^[7] In situ and from an impression.