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EPIGRAPHIA INDICA.
[VOL. XXIV.
Vitthalēsvara temple on the bank of the Tungabhadrã at Bhaskara-kshetra (i.e., Hampi), the venue of the Anandanidhi-däna, mentioned in the following Kannada preamble of the Gadag version.
Svasti Samastabhuvanāšraya sri-prithvi-vallabha Mahārājādhiraja Rajaparamēbvara sri
Virapratāpa Achyutarāya-Mahārāyaru Vijayanagariya nelevidinoļu sukha-samkathāvinodadim rājyar-geyyuttam-ildu Saka 1461 (etc.) punya-kaladolu Bhaskara-kshetra Tungabhadrā-tira Vitthalēgvarana sannidhiyalli-Madhava-prītyarthav-āgi Anandanidhiyemba dānavanu koţtu samasta-bhūsuraranu santosha-badisida prasastiyanu Samskritabhāsha-kavitadalli Sārdūlavikriditavxemba vsittangalanu Gadagina sri-Triyambakadevara sannidhānadalli sila-säsanakke barasida dharmma-kirttiya prasastiya vșittangaļa kramay
entendode || (The two Sanskrit verses follow).
From this it is also clear that Anandanidhi is the name of a particular kind of dāna and that it was performed in the temple of Vitthalēsvara on the bank of the Tungabhadrã at Bhaskarakshētra to propitiate god Madhava and that these laudatory verses were engraved also in the temple of Triyambakadēva at Gadag. The inscriptions engraved at Srirangam and other places must have also been of this nature. According to Hēmadri, who describes this gift in some detail in the Danakhanda of his Chaturvarga-chintāmani, the Anandanidhi-dana consists of presenting to learned Brāhmans, after some ceremonial preliminaries, pots made of the udumbara wood (audumbaram ghatam) and filled with precious stones and coins of gold, silver or copper. The days prescribed for the performance of this dāna are days in the months of Kärttika, Māgha and Madhava (Vaisakha), days of Ayana, Vishu, Manvādi and Yugādi, and days of the lunar and Bolar eclipses ; and the merit accruing from this ceremony is said to be longevity, perfect health and imperial sovereignty. It is no wonder therefore that king Achyuta selected this Ananda
1 No. 7 of the Bombay-Karnatak Epigraphical Collection for 1926-27. * Compare drijan Dhanadayannamõrlayan-Madhavam of the verse.
A similar preamble found in the Annigere copy states that the verses were engraved in the Amrite vara temple at that place under similar circumstances; while the Dāvanagere copy has simply the following sentence :- Sriman-Maharajadhirāja-Rājaparamēsvara-Sri-Virapratapa-Sri-Achyutadēva-Maharaya-krita-Mahānanda. nidhi-prasamsa-padya-dvayam likhyatë!.
• Bibliotheca Indica, No. 34, Chaturvarga-chintamani, Danakhanda, pp. 583-588 ; and Madras Epigraphical Report for 1923, p. 119. ... कारयेत्कार्तिकान्ते वा माया माधवैपि वा ।
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