South Indian Inscriptions

RELIGION

Pavanaśiva, Śabdaśiva and Īśvaraśiva1 were contemporaries of Purandara, Chūdāśiva and Prabhāvaśiva but whether Pavanaśiva was a disciple of Sadāśiva or of some other Āchārya of Madhumati is not known. Another Śaiva Āchārya named Ganganaśiva, who originally hailed from Uttara-Tērambagriha and built a temple of Śiva at Ranipur Jharial in the former Patna state in Orissa, is known from an inscription recently edited by Dr. Chhabra. He probably belonged to the Mattamayūra clan, but this exact relation to the other Āchāryas of the clan is not known.

MattaMayūra the chief seat of this clan, has not yet been identified. It must have been situated not far from Tērahi, Rānod and Mahuā where inscriptions, temples and monasteries of this clan have been found It may be identical with Kadwāhā about 15 miles south of Ranōd, which possesses the remains of a Hindu monastery and of not less than 14 Brahmanical temples, all belonging to the 10th and 11th centuries A.C. “Such a large group of temples,” says Mr. Garde, “is found at no other single place in the Gwalior state. Kadwāhā thus deserves to be stayed the Khajurāhō or Bhuvanēśvara of Gwalior.” Such buildings could not have been erected without a continuous royal patronage. Kadwāhā may, therefore, have been the capital of Avantivarman and his successors.²

Inscriptions give no definite information about the dynasty and age of Avantivarman who ruled at Mattamayūra. From the evidence of the Chēdi inscriptions mentioning the Śaiva Āchāryas of this line, we have inferred above that Puranadara who was invited by Avantivarman flourished in circa 825 A.C. This is, therefore the approximate time of Avantivarman. As regards his dynasty, Kielhorn while editing the Rānod inscription suggested that he might be realted to the Chaulukya princes simhavarman, sadhanava and Avanivarman. the ancestors of the Chēdi queen Nōhalā. The suggestion appears quite plausible; for, it was probably owing to the influence of this queen, who was a favourite wife of Yuvarājadēva I, that the Śaiva Āchāryas first obtained a footing in the Chēdi county She, her husband Yuvarājadēva I and their son Lakshmanarāja II invited Śaive Āchāryas of this line to the Chēdi country and honoured them with munificent gifts of temples, monasteries and villages. It is, therefore, quite plausible that her ancestors were ruling over the territory round Mattamayūra.³ this suggestion is further supported by the reference to a Śulki (i.e. Chaulakya) dynasty ruling in Central India in the 9th and 10th centuries A.C. A stone inscription discovered by Mr. Grade at Maser in the Bhilsā District mentions a line of Śulki kings.4 The progenitor of this line was the sage Bhāradvaja he was born of a drop of water which fell from the añjali of the Creator. Hence, the royal family descended from him came to be known as Śuki. This tradition differs from that described in the Bilhāri inscription in connection with the ancestry of the Chēdi queen Nōhalā. The ancestors of Nōhalā belonged to the Chaulukya family, which was so called because its progenitor was born from the chuluka (handful of water) of the sage Bhāradvāja himself.⁵ Both these traditions are no doubt fanciful being intended to give a plausible explanation of the dynastic names Śulki or Chaulukya, but they leave no room for doubt that the two families were identical. The Master inscription mentions some kings of this __________________

¹This Īśvaraśiva may be identical with his namesake mentioned in a fragmentary inscription at Kadwāhā A.R.A.D.G.S.(1939), p.18
² The old name of the place seems to have survived in the name Murayatas of an old tank on the south of the villages, the temples near which are 'the largest and the most important See archæology in Gwalior p. 96.
³An analogous instance is that of the Kalachuri queen Alhanadēvi who hailing from Mewad, placed the Pāśupata ascetic Rudrarāśi of lata in charge of a temple of Śiva and made grants of some villages for its maintenance. No. 60,11.24-25
⁴A.R.A.D.G.S.(1930-31)P.10.
⁵No. 45, 1. 14.