North Indian Inscriptions

ALAMANDA PLATES OF ANANTAVARMAN.

Third Plate ; Second Side.

TRANSLATION.

(Line 1.) Ôm. Hail !

......From the victorious residence² Kaliṅgânagara, which resembles the city of the gods (and) which is pleasant (on account of the simultaneous existence) of the comforts of all seasons,— the devout worshipper of Mahêśvara, who adores the feet of (his) mother and father, the ornament of the spotless family of the Gaṅgas, the son of the glorious Mahârâja Râjêndravarman, the glorious Anantavarmadêva,— who has become a receptacle of wisdom, modesty, compassion, charity, courtesy, bravery, magnanimity, truthfulness, liberality, and other excellent virtues ; who has destroyed the principal mountains, (viz. his) enemies ; whose fame is as bright as the white water-lily, the jasmine flower and the moon ; whose handsome feet³ are reddened by the clusters of the light of the jewels on the crests of all vassals, prostrated by (his) valour ; who has caused the cry of “victory” to resound in the turmoil of many battles ; (and) who is freed from the stains of the Kali (age) in consequence of (his) prostrations at the lotus-feet of the god Gôkarṅasvâmin, whose crest-jewel is the moon,⁴ who is the sole architect for the construction of the whole world, who is the lord of the animate and inanimate creation, (and) who is established on the sinless peak of the Mahêndra mountain,⁵— being in good health, addresses (the following) order to the ryots inhabiting the village of Mede[lâ]ka in the district (vishaya) of Tirikaṭu :—

......(V. 15.) “Be it known to you (that), at the consecration of a tank, (which took place) at an eclipse of the sun, this village was given, with libations of water, to Vishṇudêva’s son Śrîdhara-Bhaṭṭa, of the Vâjasanêya (śâkhâ) and the Kauśika gôtra, who resides at Homvaravala, (and) who thoroughly knows the Vêdas and Vêdâṅgas.

......(V. 18.) “The marks of the boundaries of this (village) are declared (as follows) :— In the eastern direction, a row of jungle-trees (and) a rock ; in the south-east, a rock ; in the south, the Chaṭera river ; in the south-west, a group of tamarind-trees⁶ (and) a row of jungle-trees ; in the west, the Gurâ tank (and) a row of jungle-trees ; in the north-west, the Kalajñâ tank (and) a rock ; in the north, a trench ; in the north-east, a banyan-tree, a row of jungle-trees (and) a trikûṭa.⁷
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......¹ Read
......² In this and other Gaṅga grants, vâsaka appears to be used in the sense of râjadhânî.
......³ In line 8 of this inscription, and in line 7 of one of the inscriptions published by Dr. Fleet (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIII. p. 275), the word is erroneously inserted before :. Another of Dr. Fleet’s inscriptions (Ind. Ant. Vol. XIV. p. 11, text line11) shows that, in the original draft of the introduction of the Gaṅga grants, the word formed part of a compound which stood before :.
......⁴ i.e. the god Śiva.
......⁵ The Mahêndra mountain is frequently mentioned in the epic poems ; see Böhtlingk and Roth’s Sanskṛit-Wörterbuch, s. v. In the Raghuvaṁśa (vi. 54), the king of Kaliṅga is called ‘the lord of (Mount) Mahêndra.’ General Sir A. Cunningham (Ancient Geography of India, Vol. I. p. 516) has identified the term with the Mahêndramala range, which divides Gañjâm from the valley of the Mahânadî. Consequently, the temple of Gôkarṇasvâmin, which was situated on the Mahêndra mountain, must be distinct from the well-known shrine in the North Canara district. According to Mr. Sewell’s account (Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I. p. 5), the Mahêndragiri is now included in the Mandasa zamîndârî and bears on its summit, 4,923 feet above the sea, four temples. The highest of these is built of very large granite blocks and dedicated to Śiva. This is perhaps the Gôkarṇasvâmin of the Gaṅga grants. In the “Madras Mail” of the 29th May 1893, Mr. Duncan states that the top of the Mahêndragiri hill is 17 miles distant from Haripur station of the East Coast Railway.
......⁶ is the same as in the Amarakôśa, and as in the Telugu and Kanarese dictionaries.
......⁷ The same term occurs in Ind. Ant. Vol. XVIII. p. 174 f., text line 36 f. Its meaning might be ‘the point at which three roads meet.