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No. 11.)
MADRAS MUSEUM PLATES OF VAJRAHASTA III.
95
The language of the inscription is Sanskrit. It contains the same twelve verses as the Nadagám plates of Saks-Samvat 979. The remainder of the inscription is in prose. The first 41 lines are almost identical with the corresponding portion of the Nadagâm plates. They are, bowever, more carefully engraved and give several passages in a more correct form.
The inscription is one of king Vajrahasta (III.), the son of Kámárņavs (II.) of the Ganga lineage, and of Vinayamahadevt of the Vaidumba family. His genealogy is given in the same words as in the Nadagâm plates, from Gunamahårņavs downwards, including the date of Vajrahasta's coronation. The insoription then goes on to state (1. 40 ff.) that the devont worshipper of Mahesvara (Śiva), the Paramabhaffaraka Maharajadhiraja, the lord of the three Kalingas, the glorious Anantavarman Vajrahastadeva, being in good health, issues the following order from Kalinganagara, having called together all the subjects, headed by the ministers :'-"Be it known to you (that), for the increase of the religions merit and fame of (Our) mother, father, and Ourself, the village named Tamaracheru in Varahavartant, combined with the Chikhali hamlet (vdfaka), circumscribed by the four boundaries, including water and land, free from all molestation, to last as long as the moon, the sun, and the earta, has been granted by Us, with libations of water, as an Agrahara, to five hundred learned Bråbmaņas who delight in the six acts of sacrificing, conducting sacrifices, studying, teaching, (giving) and accepting, (and) who are well versed in sacred lore, in the Saka year of the dice (4), the Vasus (8) and the treasures (9), on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun. Therefore (Our gift) should be preserved by future kings in compliance with the law proclaimed by Manu. Moreover, land with the produce of two hundred Murakas of grain has been given, to last as long as the moon and the sun, free from hindrances, to the god Kotisvara for (the maintenance of the rites of) Bali, Oharu, Naivedya, Dipapůjd, and so on. And the repairs of what is broken and torn in this temple) should without fail be effected by the Brahmapas living there."
The inscription does not add anything to our knowledge of the history of king Vajrahasta III. We only learn that he also had the name Anantavarman, like his grandson Chôdagangadeva.
Of the localities mentioned in the inscription, Kalinganagara has been identified by Mr. Ramamurtis with the villages Mukhalingam and Nagara katakam in the Ganjam district. Varêbavartani occurs in several Gånga grants. The village of Tâmaracheru is also known from Ganga inscriptions. Its boundaries are given in the Chicacole plstes of the Maharaja Dévêndravarman, in which the village Tâmarachhera is granted to three hundred Brahmaņas on the occasion of an eclipse of the sun. The Chicacole plates of the Ganga Maharaja Indravarman, issued from Kalinganagara in Gåogêya-Samvat 128,9 further state that the village of Tâmaracherova was granted to certain Brahmaņas on the occasion of an eclipse of the moon on the full-moon day of Margasira. The latter inscription mentions Tamarachoruva-gramar b&(vd)takd(ka)-sahita[m](1. 8 f.). This vátaka is perhaps identical with the Chikhali-vátaka of our inscription. The village of Tâmaragheru has not as yet been identified. It should be looked for in the neighbourhood of Chicacole.
The date of the grant is found in a part of the inscription which has not been so well preserved as the rest. The first word is scarcely legible in the ink-impression. After a careful exemination of the original, however, Mr. Venkayya and myself find that the reading krita is certain. The date of the inscription is accordingly the saka year 984. If we take this to be
1 Above, Vol. IV. p. 185 ; VOL. V. Appendix, p. 50, No. 855 * This was evidently the name of the temple of Siva at Tamaracheru.
Above, Vol. IV. p. 187 1. . Above, Vol. III. p. 127, note 8 ; Vol. V. p. 185, note 5, etc. . Ind. Ast. Vol. XIII. p. 278 t.
. Ibid. p. 119 1.
