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No IV)
MONASTIO LIFE IN SRAVANA BELGOLA,
125
such grants were made from time to time. So carly as A D 1131, one Siriya Devi, the daughter of Bala Deva Dannāyaka, in order to provide in the Svati Gandha Värņa Jina temple at Belgoļa, for the divine worship, gifts of food to the assembly of rishis, and for repairs, presented the village of Malta-Navile in Kalkaņi-nūd and an irrigation garden of fifty Kolagas in the middle plain of Gangasamudra. Deposting 40 gadyanas of gold and asking permission of the reigning king Visnuvardhana Deva Hoysala, and washing the feet of her guru Prabhācandra Siddhinta Deva of the Sri Mula Sangha, she made over this gist, free of all dues · From this record it may be inferred that such an award was made with a threefold object; the maintenance of divine worship, the livelihood of the Jaina monks, and the repairs of the basidis is which they lived Not only arable, but also productive land was given, and if, as in this case, it was State property, (sor all land in Karnataka, at least, was not State property) it was granted after obtaining the formal sanction of the reigning king, and what is more important, free of all imposts. Some times such plots of land, with floral crowns (hūvina padige), were given over to the “hand" of the Mahānāyakācārya. Land was actually purchased before a gift was made. Even so late as A. D. 1409, it is related how a dūnasāle paddy field of one khanduga under the Gangasamudra tank of Belgoļa was purchased (kramavägi kondu kottu) by one Gummata Deva "in the regular manner" in the presence of the chief citizens of Belgola, and, after performing worship at the feel of the god, was given as a gift. 3 When such a grant of land was made to the Jaina monks of Sravaņa Belgola, its boundaries were clearly specified. In A D. 1196, for instance, the limits of a plot were thus specified : "the modaleri garden, in the volagere to the left of the Nagara Jinalaya ; six salage of pady field , below the pond before Udaka's house 10
153, pp 133-34 2. 56, pp 143-44 89 p. 156 The date of this record is not verifiable
3 107 pp. 165-66, Note: This custom of bestowing endowments. was in great vogue among the Buddhist monastries The Nalānda monastery was very prosperous owing to such grants Cf Shamans Hwui Li and YenTsung. op. cit. pp. 112-13.