South Indian Inscriptions

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA

birudas of Bhairava II. and furnish the name Tribhuvanatilaka-Jina-Chaityâlaya^[1] (l. 17) for the temple, which is described as being auspicious on every side (sarvatôbhadra)^[2] and as having four symmetrical faces (chaturmukha).^[3] It was built on the Chikkabeṭṭa hill in the vicinity of the blessed Gummaṭêśvara at Pâṇḍyanagari in Kârakaḷa (l. 14 f.). Pâṇḍyanagari, just like the modern Hiriyaṅgaḍi, was apparently another suburb of Kârkaḷa and comprised within itself the Chikkabeṭṭa hill, on which the Chaturmukhabasti is built, the colossal statue, and the long narrow street that runs between them, containing a few Jaina houses and the maṭha. It probably received its name from Pâṇḍyarâya or Vîra-Pâṇḍya, who set up the famous colossus.^[4] In ll. 19 ff. we are told that Bhairava II. set up the images of the three Tîrthakaras Ara, Malli and Munisuvrata ^[5] on each of the four faces of the temple and consecrated at the same time the images of the 24 Tîrthakaras and those of the Jinas together with Brahma and Padmâvati.^[6]

Ll. 22 to 42 record the grant of the village of Teḷâra, which yielded a revenue of 700 mûḍe of rice. Besides this, 238 pagodas (gadyâṇa or varaha, l. 28) from the siddhâya (i.e. the established revenue) of the villages Râñjâḷa and Nallûru were also granted. The income was to be utilised for the requirements of worship in the four symmetrical central shrines of the temple^[7] and in the subordinate shrines, by fourteen families of Sthânîkas^[8] appointed for that purpose. Provision was also made for temple servants and musicians. The four groups (taṇḍa) of Jaina mendicants who had quarters in the temple were supplied annually with 8 blankets, to protected themselves from cold, and with 1 blanket to receive the daily doles of rice which they collected from door to door. They were also given the necessary requirements for oil-baths, viz. oil, soap-nut and fuel. Ll. 43 to 47 record two additional grants, perhaps by the same chief, for the daily offerings (1) to Chandranâtha in the basti situated within the quadrangle of the hiriya-aramane (i.e. the big palace),^[9] and (2) to Pârśvanâtha in the basti on the Gôvardhanagiri hill.^[10] The inscription ends with a puzzle (v. 8), which was composed by the author of the inscription in order to celebrate the power of the five syllables Śrîvîtarâga (i.e. Jina), which the donor Bhairava II. is said to have affixed to the inscription with his own hand in token of his approval of the charities recorded therein. The four erased lines at the end of the inscription may have contained the clue for the right interpretation of the puzzle.
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^[1] Perhaps so named in imitation of the Hosabasti at Mûḍabidure, which according to the inscriptions of that temple was called Tribhuvanachûḍâmaṇi-Chaityâlaya and was built in Śaka-Saṁvat 1351, i.e. 157 years prior to the construction of the Chaturmukhabasti.
^[2] This attribute given to the temple appears to have suggested the insertion of the puzzle in the sarvatôbhadra verse at the end of the inscription.
^[3] Chaturmukhabasti, the present popular name of the temple, is derived from the fact that the temple was constructed with four symmetrical faces (chaturmukha).
^[4] Above, Vol. VII. p. 109 f.
^[5] Same as Suvrata mentioned in v. 3.
^[6] These two deities are different from Brâhmaṇical gods of the same name. Brahma and Padmâvati in Jaina mythology are two demigods (yaksha and yakshiṇî) who attend invariably upon the Tîrthakaras.
^[7] The allotments made for the worship at each gate are very carefully recorded, and from these it appears as if the western gate, which enjoyed the largest share of the gift in money, was the primary one, while the three other symmetrical gates were only of secondary importance. This is also proved by the fact that at this particular gate alone the images of the 24 Tîrthakaras were consecrated (ll. 20 and 39).
^[8] The Jaina priests are now generally known by the name Indra (Government Epigraphist’s Annual Report for 1900-01, paragraph 5). The name Sthânîka given to them in the inscription appears to be used in imitation of the name given to a section of Brâhmaṇas in South Canara, whose sole profession is temple service.─ See Mr. Sturrock’s South Canara Manual, Vol. I. p. 154.
^[9] This might be the name of one of the palaces of Bhairava II. himself, which was probably situated either at Pâṇḍyanagari or Hiriyaṅgaḍi, both of which are still covered with ruins of buildings.
^[10] This is perhaps one of the many small hills that surround Kârkaḷa. I was informed while there, that one of these bears at its top a Jaina basti even now. It will be too fanciful to connect the name with Gôvardhanagiri in the Shimoga district, which ‘ is said to have been fortified by Jinadatta ’ (the mythical founder of a Jaina line of king’s in the south) ; (Mysore Gazetteer, Vol. II. p. 452).