________________
DIMENSIONS OF BĀBĀNAGARA INSCRIPTION [Vide South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. XVIII. No. 187, C. E. 1168, pp. 256-59]
DR. HAMPA NAGARAJAIAH
Introduction
The much mutilated epigraph under discussion, containing 71 lines, has recorded three separate donations, made at different periods, to three Jaina temples at-Kannadige, the modern Bābānagara, a village at a distance of about 27km to the west of Bijāpura, the District head quarters in Karnataka. The language of the inscription is Kannada and is written in Kannada characters.
Epitome of the text
It opens with a benedictory Sanskrit śloka from Bhatta-Akalankadeva's Pramana sangraha, invoking Jaina Order initiated by Jina, Lord of the three worlds. Subsequent lines eulogize the valour and virtues of Bijjaņadevarasa-II (1130-67), the Kalacuri king and eldest son of Permadideva (1118-30). Then follows the description of (Vira) Mailugi ksonīša (1167), the youngest brother of Bijjanadeva and his affiliation to Jaina creed. Manikya Bhattaraka, a bee at the lotus feet of Jina, was patriarch of the Kannadige diocese. His pupil (Ravi) deva, an ardent devotee of Jaina Church, attained eminence by commissioning a shrine enshrining Candraprabha, the Eighth Tirthankara, at Kannadige. Cāvundarāya, fostering probity and far famed for four types of charity, installed a huge Mānastambha, characteristic Jaina Pillar of Eminence, also called Pride Pillar, that looked like a scale to measure the three worlds.
Synchronizing the Astānhika Jaina holy day in the year C. E. 1160, Bijjanadeva, purifying his body by sprinkling Jina-gandhodaka, the scented holywater mixed with sandal paste and anointed on the Jain idol enshrined in the sanctum, gifted 24 mattar land, with its boundary specified. This land
Jain Education International
For Personal & Private Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org
