|
South
Indian Inscriptions |
|
|
THE VIJAYANAGAR KINGS
Uttama-Nambi and Chakrarāya
Another inscription of Dēvarāya (No. 60) from Śrīraṅgam consists of 3
verses in praise of the king. Uttama-Nambi and Chakrarāya. The first verse
extolling the king, plays a pun on the
words expressing the cyclic years and
states that having become king (Pārthiva) in the year Pārthiva and destroyed
his enemies (ripu-vyayam) in Vyaya, Dēvarāya would become all-conquering
(Sarvajit) and the all supporting (Sarvadhāri). Since the cyclic year Pārthiva
corresponded to Śaka 1327, we have to identify the king with Dēvarāya I. The
second verse states that Uttama-Nambi got from king Dēvarāya, a pearl umbrella, a big kāhaḷa, two lamps, a bhadrāsana and similar royal emblems. In
the last year’s Report (para. 63), it has been stated that Uttama-Nambi was
the recipient of similar gifts from king Prauḍhadēvarāya (Dēvarāya II), but
from the present inscription, it would appear that he received the same honours
from Dēvarāya I also. The third verse of the inscription states that in Manmatha (Śaka 1337) an image of Garuḍa was consecrated by Chakrarāya. The
consecration of this image is also mentioned in the Kōyilolugu where it is stated
that the copper-image of the deity which had been endowed by the Chōḷa king
had become mutilated in the troublous times (kalāpam) that followed and was
recast and set up in the Maṇavāḷaperumāḷ-tirumaṇḍapa by Chakrarāya in the
cyclic year Manmatha. This Garuḍa image seems to be different from the
one mentioned in No. 50 which is stated to have been consecrated by Chakrarāya
in the year Viśvāvasu, corresponding to Śaka 1347.
|
>
|
Vira-and Vijaya-Bhupati.
44. Vira-Bhūpati, the son of Bukka II and Vijaya-Bhūpati, son of Dēvarāya
are each represented by a single inscription
from Śrīraṅgam. Of these, No. 59, belonging
to the former is dated in Śaka 1331 and records a gift of money for the
conduct of a nine-day festival to god Raṅganātha in the month of Tai ending
with the king’s natal star Punarvasu. This was entrusted to Uttama-Nambi
who held an important position in the temple in the time of Dēvarāya II (Ep.
Rep., for 1937-38, para. 63). The inscription of Vijaya (No. 53) is dated in the
cyclic year Śubhakṛit, corresponding to Śaka 1344 and registers the gift of the
village Kumarakkuḍi as a daṇḍikai-jīvitam to the same Uttama-Nambi, the sthānika of the temple.
|
Devaraya II.
45. Two records of Dēvarāya II (Nos. 199 and 55) both from the Trichino-
poly district, dated in Śaka 1352 and 1351, register gift of two villages named
Paṇṇaṅguḍi and Hastichōḷēndramaṅgalam to the temples at Tiruveḷḷarai and
Śrīraṅgam by Vyāsa Bhārati¸ the disciple of Rāmachandra-Sarasvati and the
son of Dakshiṇāmūrti and Marakatavallī of Chillamatāgrahāram. This records
consist of several Sanskrit verses which are stated to have been composed by
the donor himself. This Vyāsa-Bhārati figures also in an inscription at Lālguḍi
(No. 131 of 1929) of the time of the same king. __________________________________________________________________
|
Anna-Chauṇḍapa and Annadāta-Uḍaiyar.
Another inscription (No. 7) of the king, dated in Śaka 135[5] records the gift
of the villages Koḍiyālam and Śirudavūr by, [Anna]-Chauṇḍappa, son of Āḍitya-
dēva for conducting a car-festival in
the temple at Śrīraṅgam on the day of
Uttirāḍam, the natal star of his father (Āditya). This Anna-Chauṇḍappa is
known from No. 134 of 1936-37 from Jaṁbukēśvaram, as the donor of some
structural additions to that temple. The donor of another gift to the Śrīraṅgam
temple was Annadāta-Da[ṇ]ṇāyaka-Uḍaiyar of the Harita-gōtra (No. 34) who
must be different from Mahāpradhāni Annadāta-Uḍaiyar, son of Chauṇḍappa-Uḍaiyar mentioned in No. 568 of 1902 as the latter was of the Vasishṭha-gōtra.
No. 57 from Śrīraṅgam refers of a certain Aṇṇapa-mantri whose son Śrīpati
is said to have constructed a window (dvāra) to the pinnacle (valabhī) of the vimāna of the temple. The identification of this Aṇṇapa however, is not
clear.
|
The benefactions of Chakrarāya (mentioned in para. 43 above), the brother
of Uttama-Nambi to the Raṅganātha temple at Śrīraṅgam are noticed in a
Tamil verse inscription secured from the place (No. 50). It is known that
Chakrarāya flourished in the time of Dēvarāya II (Ep. Rep., for 1937-38, para.
63). The cyclic years quoted from Krōdhi to Saumya in this record when the
gifts were made severally must be equated with the Śaka years 1346 to 1351.
No. 46 which is dated in the cyclic year Virōdhikṛit registering a sale of the village
|
|
|