________________
No. 40]
NAGARI PLATES OF ANANGABHIMA III; SAKA 1151 AND 1152
freedom with which the later poet handled the genealogy found in the later records of Anantavarman Chōdaganga, as indicated by the present case, is possibly another argument in favour of its fabricated nature. As we have suggested above, much of this account is fabricated, and the genealogy found in the records of the time of Vajrahasta III (1038-68 A.C.) and of the earlier years of Anantavarman Chōdaganga is much more reliable.
211
Verses 14-15 describe the greatness of Vajrahasta who is called 'lord of Trikalinga'. Verse 16 speaks of Vajrahasta's queen Nangama and his son Rajaraja I born of her. Verses 17-18 deal with Rajaraja and his chief queen (agra-mahishi) Rājasundari. The following 15 verses (verses 19-33) describe the achievements of [Anantavarman] Choḍaganga, son of Rajaraja and Rājasundari. Verse 20 deals with his learning in various subjects, while the next verse refers to his great prowess. Verse 22 says that Chōdaganga levied tribute from the whole land between the Ganga (Bhagirathi) and the Gautama-Ganga (Godavari). Verses 23-24 again refer to Chōdaganga's prowess. According to verse 25, Trilochana-vibhu was bound in agreement with the Ganga (i.e., Chōdaganga) saying that no hero could venture to conquer him. Trilochana may of course indicate the god Siva; but the reference may also be to an enemy captured in battle by the Ganga king. Verse 26 speaks of Gangesvara's (i.e., Chodaganga's) victory over the king of Utkala, which led to his obtaining dharani, i.e., new territories no doubt in the Utkala country. We have elsewhere? discussed the history of the Sōmavamsis who were ruling in Utkala comprising the Puri-Cuttack region about this time. The Utkala king defeated by Chōdaganga was possibly a successor of the Sōmavamsi ruler Uddyōtakesarin (circa 1060-85 A.C.). According to verse 27, Chōḍaganga built a temple for the great god Purushottama, as the earlier kings were afraid to take up this great task, while the next verse seems to suggest that the temple was built on the sea-shore. It is rightly believed by scholars that these two verses refer to the erection of the great temple of Purushottama-Jagannatha at Puri on the shores of the Bay of Bengal by king Anantavarman Chōdaganga. As we have seen above, this Ganga king, like his predecessors, was at first a Saiva, but later bacame a Vaishnava, and that' the annexation of the Puri region to his empire may have had some thing to do with this change in his religious faith. The language of verse. 27 seems to suggest that the god Purushottama-Jagannatha had been in worship at Puri for many years before the conquest of that region by Chōḍaganga, but that the Saivite Somavamsis, who were supplanted from Utkala by the Gangas, had neglected the erection of a temple for the Vaishnavite deity. It seems that like Minakshi at Madura, Bālāji-Venkatesvara at Tirupati, Vindhyavasini near Mirzapur, Kamakhyā near Gauhati and many other gods and goddesses worshipped in different parts of India, Purushottama-Jagannatha of Puri was originally worshipped by the local aboriginal people but was later on gradually accommodated in the orthodox Brahmanical pantheon. The identification of this deity with the Brahmanical god Vishnu is, however, apparently earlier than the beginning of the twelfth century when Chōdaganga conquered the Utkala country. Verse 29 refers to the hunting excursions of Anantavarman Chōdaganga and the next verse to his victory over the king of Mandara in a battle that took place on the banks of the Ganges. The walls and gates of Aramya, the capital city of the Mandara king who fled from it, are said to have been destroyed
1 She was a Chōla or Choda princess. Her father was king Rajendra Chōla (Bhandarkar, List, No. 1100. Her son's name Chodaganga points to the latter's claim to both Chola and Ganga blood. Chōdaganga is some. times called Virarājëndra-Chōdaganga (Subba Rao, History of Kalinga, p. 136) apparently after his maternal grandfather. Thus Rajasundarl's father was actually Virarajendra Chōla (circa 1063-70 A. C.).
I.H.Q., Vol. XX, pp. 76-82; Vol. XXII, pp. 300-07.
J. A. S. B., Vol. LXVII, 1898, pp. 328-31.
The Utkala-khanda (chapters VII-VIII) section of the Skanda Purana (Vishnu-khanda, seotion II) clearly says that Purushottama-Jagannatha of Puri was originally worshipped by the aboriginal Sabara people in secret in an inaccessible forest on the Nilachala and that the priest of king Indradyumna of Avanti, who popularised the god, received informations regarding the deity and his worship from a Sabara named Visvavasu. 18 DGA
