North Indian Inscriptions

COCHIN PLATES OF BHASKARA RAVIVARMAN.

C.— JAMBUKESVARA INSCRIPTION OF VALAKA-KAMAYA.

Saka-Samvat 1403.

......This inscription¹ is engraved on the month wall of the second prâkâra of the Śaiva temple of Jambukêśvara on the island of Śrîraṅgam near Trichinopoly. It is referred to in Mr. Moore’s Trichinopoly Manual (p. 341) and in Mr. R. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities (Vol. I. p. 267) as the only inscription in the Jambukêśvara temple, which contains a date in the Śaka era. It consists of eight lines in modern Tamil characters, intermixed with a few words and syllables in the Grantha alphabet. The language is very faulty Tamil.

......The inscription records the grant of one vêli of land in the village of Vaḍakarai-Veṇkônkuḍi² to the god of Tiruvânaikkâ.³ The date of the grant was the day of Mahâmâgha, which fell on Sunday, the full-moon tithi of the month of Kumbha of Śaka-Saṁvat 1403 expired, the Plava saṁvatsara. Mr. Dikshit kindly informed the Editor that the European equivalent of this date is Sunday, the 3rd February, A.D. 1482. The donor was the great provincial chief (mahâmaṇḍalêśvara) Vâlaka-Kâmaya, alias Akkalarâja, who bore the titles of “a Bhîma among the Chôḷas,” “a Vishṇu among the Chôḷas” (Śôla-Nârâyaṇa), and “the lord of Uraiyûr⁴ the best of cities” (Uraiyûr-puravar-âdhîśvara). Though it is very doubtful if he had any real connection with the ancient indigenous dynasty of the Chôḷas, he claimed at any rate to be their rightful successor ; and his name has been accordingly included in Dr. Hultzsch’s preliminary list of Chôḷa kings.⁵ His title mahâmaṇḍalêśvara suggests that he was a dependant, probably of one of the last kings of the first Vijayanagara dynasty.⁶

TEXT.⁷

1 Śubham=astu śvasti⁸ śrî [||*] Śak-âptum⁹ 1403 idan mêl śellân[i]nra Pilava-saṁvarsarattu Kumba-nâyarru pûruva-pakshattu pûruṇaiyum Âditta-vâramum perra Magattu nâḷ Siṁ-
2 ha-Brahaspati-¹⁰ Mahâmaga-puṇya-kâlattilê śrîman-mahâmṇḍalêśvaran Śôlâr-Bîman Śôḷa-Nârâyaṇan Uraiyûr-pûrvvar-âthîśvaran¹¹ Vâlaka-Kâmayar âna Akkalarâśar
3 nâyanâr alagiya Tiruvânaikkâv=uḍaiya nâyanâr kôyil ¹²Âdi-Śaṇḍêśara-dêvarkanmigaḷukku kuḍutta tanma-śâdana-ppaṭṭaiyam [||*] Nâyanâr alagiya Tiruvânaik-
4 kâv=uḍaiya nâyanâr Vaḍakarai-Veṇkônkuḍiyil tiru-vêṭṭai âga elund=aruḷugira tirunâḷ maṇḍapa-chchirappuk[ku]m nâchchiyâr Agilâṇḍanâya-
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......¹ No. 30 of 1891 in Dr. Hultzsch’s Annual Report for 1891-92.
......² The village of Veṇkônkuḍi is mentioned in the Tañjâvûr inscriptions ; see South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol.
II. p. 63. Vaḍakarai means “on the northern bank (of the Kâvêrî) ;” see ibid. p. 53, note 1.
......³ Tiruvânaikkâ, “the sacred elephant-grove,” is the ancient Tamil designation of the site of the Jambukêśvara temple ; see South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II. p. 253.
......⁴ According to the Tamil dictionaries, this town, which is now a suburb of Trichinopoly and the native trade in cigars, was the former capital of the Chôḷa kings. Ptolemy calls it already [Image]. The Śaiva temple at Uraiyûr contains some ancient Chôḷa inscriptions.
......⁵ See hi Annual Report for 1891-92, p. 7.
......⁶ An inscription of the Vijayanagara king Virûpâksha II., the son of Mallikârjuna, dated in Śaka-Saṁvat 1405 expired, is found at Gaṅgaikoṇḍaśôlapuram in the Trichinopoly district ; see ibid. p. 9.
......⁷ From an inked estampage received from Dr. Hultzsch.― Words which are written wholly or partially in Grantha letters, are distinguished in the transcript by thick type.
......⁸ Read svasti.
......⁹ Read Śak-âbdam.
......¹⁰ Read Bṛihaspati.
......¹¹ Read puravar-âdhîśvaran.
......¹² Read Âdi-Chaṇḍêśvara.