South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

was read by him in line 1-4 ; śrīmad-Aniyaṅka-Bhīmadēvasya pravardhamāna Purushōttama sōmbhāṅkē(?) chatustimattamē aṅke. But I pointed out that the record actually reads chatustiṁ(striṁ)ma(śa)ttamē aṅkē undoubtedly referring to the 34th Aṅka year or 28th regnal year of Anaṅgabhīma III and Purushōttama-sāmbhrā(mrā)jyē pointing to the fact that the said Gaṅga monarch considered himself a servant of the god Purushōttama-Jagannātha of Purī, who was regarded by him as the real lord of the Gaṅga dominions. According to the usually accepted beginning of the reign of Anaṅgabhīma III, suggested by Chakravarti himself, the date of the epigraph falls in 1238-39 A.C. The third inscription is a damaged record engraved “ on the north jamb of the porch ” Chakravarti assigned the epigraph to Anaṅgabhīma III and read in lines 2-5 : jayati sakala-varṇa-jan-ālaṅkṛita-rāja-śrī-Bhīmadēv-ābda . . . . tṛitīyāyē Guru-vārē Magha-nakshatrē. But I suggested the reading of the passage in question as sa(su)kama(rma)-baddha-jan-ālaṁkṛita-rāja(jya)-śrī-Bhīmadēvābdē [trayō]. . . .[prati]padi Guru-vārē Magha-nakshatrē.^[1] Thus the date seems to be either the Aṅka year trayōdaśa, i.e., 13, or trayōviṁśa, i.e., 23.

Recently I had the opportunity of examining the impressions of another Liṅgarāja temple inscription noticed by Chakravarti.^[2] I edit the record in the following pages with the help of these impressions which are preserved in the office of the Government Epigraphist for India. This inscription is incised “ on the south jamb of the porch ”. It covers a space of about 17 inches in length and 16½ inches in height. There are altogether 13 lines of writing. The characters employed are Gauḍīya and the Language of the record in Sanskrit. Some influence of the local language is traceable in the language and orthography of the inscription.

Chakravarti read the following passage in lines 2-4 : śrīmad-Aniṅka-Bhīmadēvasya pravarddhamāna-sāmrājyē chatusitāttamē aṅkē Makara-svēkādaśi(śī)-Śukra-vārē. As in the case of chatustimattamē (sic. chatustiṁmattamē for chatustriṁśattamē) occurring in another record of the same place, the expression chatusitāttamē has been interpreted by Chakravarti as the fourth Aṅka year and the record has been assigned to Anaṅgabhīma II. He calculated the date to correspond to the 15th January 1193 A.C. But I find that there are several inaccuracies in Chakravarti’s reading of the passage quoted above. The inscription actually reads : chatusinsattamē the reading intended being undoubtedly chatustriṁśattamē. Thus the thirty-fourth Aṅka year, i.e., the 28th actual regnal year, of a Gaṅga king named Anaṅgabhīma is referred to. The length of the reign makes it certain that the king is no other than Anaṅgabhīma III. As indicated above, the date of this record, like another at the same place reviewed by me above, would fall in 1238-39 A.C. according to Chakravarti’s suggestion regarding the beginning of this king’s reign. Another important point is that what has been read by Chakravarti as Makara-svēkādaśi(śī)-Śukravārē is clearly Makara-śuk[l]a-pañchami(mī)-Guruvārē. The date of the inscription in question is thus Thursday, the fifth tithi of the bright half of the month of Makara in 1238-39 A.C. The date intended may ba Thursday, the 13th January, 1939 A.C., although śukla-pañchamī actually ended on the previous day.

The epigraph records the grant of five vāṭikās of land situated in the villages of Tarallakshmī and Sāgarapaṭīmā by Gōvinda-sēnāpati,^[3] son of Garēā-sēnādhyaksha. Gōvinda-sēnāpati, apparently an officer (sēnāpati or general) of the Gaṅga king Anaṅgabhīma III, is stated to have conducted jīrṇōddhāra (repairs) of the maṇḍapa of the god Bhagavat Kīrtivāsas (Kṛittivāsa or Śiva), i.e., the deity worshipped in the Liṅgarāja temple at Bhubaneswar. The deity is described as jagadīśvara, “ the lord of the world ”. Gōvinda-sēnāpati thus appears to have been a devotee

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^[1] Ind. Cult., Vol. VI, p. 76. This inscription is being re-edited in the pages of this journal from better impressions preserved in the office of the Government Epigraphist for India.
^[2] Op. cit., p. 115, No. 1.
^[3] A Brāhmaṇa of the Vatsa gōtra, named Gōvinda, was an officer of Anaṅgabhīma II according to verse 8 of the Chāṭēśvara temple inscription (above, Vol. XXIX, p. 126). He seems to be a different person.