Epigraphia Indica Vol 33

SR No.: 032587
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: D C Sircar
Publisher: Archaeological Survey of India
Publication Year: 1959
Total Pages: 514
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 29 MB

Page 77

EPIGRAPHIA INDICA
[Vol. XX.XIII date, it came to be generally applied to 1 instead of ļ through confusion. We shall therefore transcribe the letter as I in the present record as we have done in the case of the inscription of Narasimha II.
The language of Inscriptions Nos. 1 and 3 is Oriya as in the Sonepur inscription referred to above, but that of No. 2 is corrupt Sanskrit greatly influenced by the local dialect. Of grammatical interest seem to be the expressions Kailāsasikharēsvari (Inscription No. 1, lines 1-2) and Kailāsasikharēsvaraï (No. 2, line 5). The affixes i and aï appear to be old dative-locative caseondings. But Inscription No. 3 uses the usual old Oriya dative suffix kaž in Kailasadevakai (lines 1-2). Interesting from the orthographical and linguistic points of view are words like ja(ju)ge (Sanskrit yugë), Vaïsākha (Sanskrit Vaišākha) and traðdasi (Sanskrit trayodasi for trayodalyām) in No. 1, and māhā (Sanskrit mahā), Gajatti for Gajapti (Sanskrit Gajapati), Kailasasikharēsvara (Sanskrit Kailāsasikhao), sarga-loka (Sanskrit svarga-loka), jāti (Sanskrit yāti), Narasingha (Sanskrit Narasimha) and vijai (Sanskrit vijayi) in No. 2. Inscription No. 1 uses the verbal form dhila (Past Tense). The expected spelling is dilā, although the said form also occurs in line 26 of the Bhubaneswar inscription of Narasimha IV referred to above. The ordinary meaning of the word is'gave'; but it has been used in our record in the sense of constructed'. The verb is used in this sense also in Bengali.
All the three inscriptions refer to the reign of king Narasimha who no doubt belonged to the imperial branch of the Ganga dynasty of Orissa. As will be seen from our analysis of Inscription No. 2 below, the king is called in line 4 of that record the supporting pillar of the Ganga family. Inscription No. 2 does not bear any date ; but Nos. 1 and 3 are dated. Inscription No. 1 is dated Monday, the 13th of the bright halt of the month of Vaisakha in the year 10 of the reign of Narasimhadēva, No. 3 quotes only the year 18 of the same king's reign without any astronomical detail. Considering the age of the records, the years have to be referred to the anka reckoning. But there were four Ganga kings named Narasimha who ruled in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and it is not easy to single out the king to whom our records belong. The Ganga kinga Narasimha I, II, III and IV are supposed to have ascended the throne Iespectively about 1238, 1278, 1328 and 1379 A.D. The 10th anka year or 8th actual regnal year of these kings thus corresponded respectively to about 1245-46, 1285-86, 1335-36 and 1386-87 A.D. Among these years, the details of the date as given in our Inscription No. 1 suit only the 30th April 1246 A.D. and the king therefore may have been Narasimha I. Even though it is not possible to be definite on this point, this identification, as will be seen below, seems to be supported by the internal evidence of Inscription No. 2. Inscription No. 3 is dated in the 18th year of the same king's reign apparently according to the anka reckoning and corresponding to his 15th actual regnal year.
Inscription No. 1 begins with the auspicious word svasti and states in lines 1-2 that Narasimhhadáva constructed a temple (deula) for the god Kailasasikharēsvara and that [It was a remarkable achievement) in all the four yugas, viz. Satya, Dvāpara, Trēti and Kali. In the order of enumeration of the four ages, Trētā should have properly preceded Dvāpara. Line 2 quotes the date when the temple was built (i.e. completed or consecrated) as Monday, the 13th of the bright half of Vaisakha in the year 10 when the illustrious Narasimhadēva was ruling. This date has already been discussed above. If this Narasimha was the same as Ganga Narasimha I, it may be pointed out that the record under study furnishes the second epigraphic reference to the building activities of that king. It is well known that a stanza quoted in the records of his successors credits him with the construction of a temple for the Sun-god at Köņākõna which in the modern Köņārak in the Puri District of Orissa. The god Sive now worshipped in the Kapilās temple is called
1 Soe above, Vol. XXXI, p. 123, text lines 134-35.