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The Indian Analyst
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South Indian Inscriptions |
INCRIPTIONS OF THE KALACHURIS OF TRIPURI 1.2 and –phaņam, 1.4 ; the left limb of ś is joined to the vertical on the right, see Śivāya 1.1; the right-hand stroke for the medial ā and ō occasionally appears crescent-shaped, see vidyuch-chhankām, 1.20; the medial ē and one of the components of ai, ō and au are in some cases formed by lengthening the top stroke to the left to end in a small curve, while in others they are shown by a fully developed pŗishțha-mātrā, see, e.g., -bhāvē, 1. 16, and vairam, 1.21. The language is Sanskrit. With the exception of the customary obeisance to Śiva in the beginning and certain names and the date at the end, the whole record is metrically composed. There are twenty verses in all. The record is, on the whole, carefully composed and incised, such mistakes as dadan=for dadad=, 1.13 and charamñ=jagati in 1.16 being rare. As regards orthography, we note that the sign for v is used to denote b throughout, see, e.g.,-vrahmāņda-, 1.4 ; n is used for anuvāsra in hansa-,1.2, and –dhvansa-, 1.18, and the dental s for palatal ś in saśvad=, 1.12.
After the introductory ōm namah Śivāya, the record has three verses which describe Śiva and his tāņdava dance and invoke his blessings. Then comes the spiritual genealogy of the Śaiva ascetic Prabōdhaśiva who put up the record. In the spiritual succession of the Mattamayūra (clan) there was Purandara, the preceptor of kings. His disciple was Śikhāśiva, who is later on referred to as the lord of Madhumatī. His disciple was Prabhāvaśiva, who was invited to accept some land by Yuvarājadēva. He was followed by Praśāntaśiva, who built a hermitage at the foot of the Bhramara hill at the confluence of the Śōņa. His disciple was Prabōdhaśiva who is said to have practised penance even in his boyhood and constructed roads through mountains and across rivers and streams. He constructed the monastery, where the inscription was put up, close by the temple erected by his preceptor Praśāntaśiva, excavated a tank by the side of the hill and dug a well near the monastery. He also repaired and further excavated the well, dug by his preceptor, which had become dilapidated and full of wood in course of time. The praśasti was composed by the poet Dhāmsața, the son of Jēika and Amarikā and grandson of the Dikshita Mēhuka. It was written by Dāmōdara, the son of Lakshmīdhara and younger brother of Vāsudēva, and incised by Nīlakaņțha by the command of the Sūtradhāra Sūraka. The date of the inscription1 is given in the last line as Samvat 724, Phālgunaśudi 5. Both the year and the tithi are expressed in numerical figures only. The palœography of the inscription clearly indicates that the date must be referred to the Kalachuri era. It corresponds, for the expired Kalachuri year 724, to Monday, the 10th February, 973 A.C. It does not admit of verification. The present inscription refers to a temple built by Prasantasiva which was close to the monastery erected by Prabodhasiva. The former is, therefore, as Mr. R.D. Banerji has shown,2 the temple of Siva, which is still standing within a few yards of the entrance to the monastery at Chandrehe. The asrama at the foot of the Bhramara hill, which is now in ruins is still called Bhramarsen. _____________________
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