South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

40.- In the Bhîmêsvara temple at Drâkshârâma.^[1]

1 [Sva]sti Śaka-va[r*]shaṁbulu 1036 svasti Sarvvalôkâśraya-śrî-Vishṇuvarddhana- mâ(ma)hârâjula
2 [pra]varddhamâna-vijaya-râjya-divya-saṁvatsa 45 Dhanu-mâsamuna śukla- pa[kshamu]na êkâda-
3 [ś]iyu Budhavâramu nâṇḍu uttarâyaṇa-vyatiyipâta-^[2]nimittamuna.

“ In the Śaka year 1036 (and) the 45th heavenly year of the increasing reign of victory of the asylum of the whole world, the glorious Vishṇuvardhana-mahârâja,─ on Wednesday, the eleventh tithi of the bright fortnight of the month of Dhanus,─ on the occasion of the vyatîpâta of the Uttarâyaṇa.”

A date in the month of Dhanus of the 45th year of the king’s reign will be expected to fall near the end of A.D. 1114, in Śaka-Saṁvat 1036 expired. In this year the 11th tithi of the bright fortnight in the month of Dhanus commenced 7 h. 52 m. after mean sunrise of Wednesday, the 9th December A.D. 1114 (when the nakshatras were Aśvinî and Bharaṇî, and the yôgas Śiva and Siddha, Nos. 20 and 21, not Vyatîpâta, No. 17), and ended 5 h. 53 m. after mean sunrise of the following day.─ The sidereal Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti took place, by the Ârya-siddhânta, 20 h. 18 m. after mean sunrise of Thursday, the 24th December A.D. 1114, which was the last day of the month of Dhanus, and on which the 11th tithi of the dark fortnight ended 14 h. 48 m. after mean sunrise. The nakshatra on the same day was Anurâdhâ, and the yôgas were Gaṇḍa and Vṛiddhi, Nos. 10 and 11.─ Lastly, the tropical Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti took place on Wednesday, the 16th December A.D. 1114, on which ended the 3rd tithi of the dark fortnight in the month of Dhanus.

Having considered these result of my calculations, I have come to the conclusion that the choice of the proper equivalent of the original date can only lie between Wednesday, the 9th, and Thursday, the 24th December A.D. 1114 ; and the following reason make me decide in favour of Wednesday, the 9th December A.D. 1114. If we were to accept Thursday, the 24th December A.D. 1114, as the equivalent of the date, the writer would have been guilty of quoting, not only a wrong weekday, but also a wrong lunar fortnight. On the other hand, accepting Wednesday, the 9th December, as the equivalent, we indeed have to admit that the words uttarâyaṇa-vyatîpâta-nimittamuna─ supposing them to be intended for ‘ on the occasion of the Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti,^[3]─ have been wrongly added ; but similar statements are added, apparently wrongly, in many other dates where the word vyatîpâta is made use of.^[4] In the date under discussion and in a number of other dates this term can neither denote the yôga Vyatîpâta nor convey any of the three other meaning of vyatîpâta which I have given in Ind. Ant. Vol. XX. p. 292 f. What it means exactly, I do not know ; but it may be suggested that e.g. in the present date the writer by uttarâyaṇa-vyatîpâta wishes to say, not that the donation─ for such I suppose to be spoken of─ was actually made at the Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti, but that it shall be regarded as equivalent in merit to one which may be made on the occasion of an Uttarâyaṇa-saṁkrânti.

B.- VIKRAMA-CHOLA.

41.─ In the Kailâsanâtha temple at Śêvilimêḍu.^[5]

2 …. Srîmad-Vikra[ma]-Chôḷadêva-nṛipatêr=vva[rshê] śubhê shôḍaśê grâmê śrî-Nṛipasundar=îti viditê Vaiśâkha-mâsê=pare [|*] pakshê s-Ôttara-Chandravâra-viditê kâlê.

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^[1] No. 374 of the Government Epigraphist’s collection for 1893 ; see above, p. 220 f.
^[2] Read -vyatîpâta-.
^[3] Uttarâyaṇa-vyatîpâta undoubtedly is equivalent to uttarâyaṇasaṁkrânti-vyatîpâta which occurs in at least eight other dates.
^[4] Compare Ind. Ant. Vol. XXV. p. 292, note 52. The dates referred to in that note are all in Kanarese, and I have not found yet any Sanskṛit date in which the word vyatîpâta is similarly employed.
^[5] No. 43 of the Government Epigraphist’s collection for 1900 ; see above, pp. 228 and 229.