North Indian Inscriptions

ARCHITECTURE AND SCULPTURE

..The Śilāhāras treated impartially the followers of all the three religious, Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina, and their sects, and constructed temples of all these faiths. Their feudatories, officers, merchants and the general public imitated them. We have given detailed information about them in the Chapter on Religious Condition. Very few of these religious structures are in a good condition at present. Only the remains of some are now extant, while others have disappeared. We propose to describe briefly some of those that are still extant.

BUDDHIST TEMPLES

..The first three inscriptions included here record donations in drammas made by some Buddhists for the excavation etc. of cave-apartments for the meditation of the Buddhist monks at Kānherī in the Ṭhāṇā District. They are still extant, but some other Buddhist chaityas and vihāras have now disappeared.

..At the hamlet of Devī-kā-pāra Cousens noticed what appeared to be the remains of some Buddhist building of Stūpa. “In the centre was a well-laid brick platform, while around it on all four sides, ran one or more walls, of which the traces of foundations and some of the masonry remain. There was not sufficient left from which to form any opinion as to what the building was.” [1]

.. At Sopārā (ancient Śūrpāraka) a Buddhist Stūpa was opened in 1882. It yielded important relics including what appeared to be the fragments of the Buddha’s begging bowl. On another mound representing a Buddhist Stūpa, a Śiva temple has since been erected, but it too is now in a dilapidated condition. Cousens thought that it was left unfinished as the sculptures in- tended for its decoration are found scattered all round. One of these is an unfinished beautiful image of standing Brahmā. [2]

.. Gaṇḍarāditya, the Śilāhāra king of Kolhāpur, excavated a tank which he named Gaṇḍasāgara after himself at Irukuḍī (modern Rukaḍī near Kolhāpur) and constructed three shrines dedicated to Buddha, Īśvara (Śiva) and Jina, [3] but they too have since disappeared.

HINDU TEMPLES

..Several temples dedicated to Hindu gods and goddesses were constructed in Koṅkaṇ and the region round Kolhāpur in the time of the Śilāhāras as stated before. Of these, the temple at Ambarnāth, four miles south-east of Kalyāṇ, is still in a fair condition. It is regarded as the best and earliest example of the Deccan Style of Architecture.

I. THE AMBARANATH TEMPLE

..Fortunately, the date of this temple is definitely known. In Inscription No. 17 it is called Śrī-Ambaranātha-dēvakula and is there connected with the name of the Śilāhāra king Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Śrī-Chhittarājadēva. The inscription records a date of the reign of Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara Śrī-Māṁvāṇirājadēva, viz., Friday, the ninth tithi of the bright fortnight of Śrāvaṇa in the Śaka year 982, corresponding to the 27th July A.D. 1061. The inscription shows that the construction of the temple commenced in the reign of Chhittarāja: it continued in
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[1] M.T.D., p. 20.
[2] Loc. cit.
[3] No. 45, line 34.