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No. 34) PURI INSCRIPTIONS OF ANANGABHIMA VII, SAKA 1147 AND 1188 199 not impossible to think that it was the custom to offer land to the god for making provision for naividya formally with an offering of a bhöga oonsisting of clarified butter, curry, ourds and betel-leaf.
Inscription No. 2 records the grant of two Vatis and 6 Manas (i.e. 21 Vāțis) of land in the village of Kshātayi (or Chhätayl)-Utapalli (or Utapalls in the Kehätayi or Chhātayl division) by the footman (Padataka, modern Oriya Paika) Khanda, who was the son of Chandãnā, on Monday, Makara-badi 7, in Saka 1158 and in the Anka year 29 of Rautta (i.e. feudatory ruler) Anankabhimadēva (Anangabhima III) falling in the victorious reign of the god Purushottama. It is clear from this record that the Ganga monarch Anangabhima III considered himself a viceroy of the god whom he regarded as the real lord of his kingdom. We have seen elsewhere: how the Oriya chroniolo Mädala Panji records a tradition according to which a Gange king named Anangabhima dedicated his dominions in favour of the god Purushottama-Jagannatha, as a result of which act he regarded himself as a ruler of the Rāuta class and his successor did not enjoy formal coronation. We also know that one of the Bhubaneswar inscriptions of Anangabhima III mentions his empire as the Purushottama-sämrājya, 'the empire of Purushottama ', while some records of Bhanu II, greatgreat-grandson of Anangabhima III, mention the god Purushottama-Jagannātha as his overlord. The date of the inscription under review corresponds regularly to Monday, January 3, 1237 A.D. The twentyninth year of the Anka reckoning corresponded to the twentyfourth regnal year of the Ganga monarch. The grant recorded in this epigraph was made in favour of the god Purushottama for making provision for offerings to the deity with the cognizance of Visva pati. It was made with clarified butter, curry, ourds and betel-leaf as in the case of Inscription No. 1 analysed above. The meaning of the last line of the record, which speaks of the deities Halin (Balarāma), Chakrin (Krishna-Vishņu) and Subhadrā, is difficult to determine. But the mention of these three deities, in connection with the Jagannātha temple at Puri in a record of the thirteenth century is interesting. A Bhubaneswar inscription of the same century, bearing the date Saka 1200 (1278 A.D.), states how the Ganga princess Chandrikā or Chandrädēvi, daughter of Bhānu I, built a Vishnu temple at Ekāmra (Bhubaneswar) and decorated with diadems and other ornaments Bala, Krishna and Subhadrā (apparently installed in the said temple)'.
Inscription No. 3 records the gift of one Văți of land at Kuranga and another plot consisting of one Väfi at Murada by Kirttivāsa(or Krittivāsa)-nayaka on Sunday, Kumbha-sudi 7, in Saka 1168 and in the Anka year 29 (i.e. in the 24th regnal year) of the reign of Anankabhimadēva (Ananghabhima III). According to Swamikannu Pillai's Indian Ephemeris, in the Saks year 1158 expired, Kumbhai.e. solar Phālguna)-badi 7 fell on February 3, 1237 A.D., which was, however, . Tuesday and not Sunday as stated in the inscription. The grant of the above two Vätis of land was made in favour of the god Purushottama for making provision for offerings to the deity with the cognizance of Pāțhin Mahädēva who is known from Inscription No. 1.- It was made with clarified butter, ourds, curry and betel-leaf as in the cases of Nos. 1-2.
Inscription No. 4 records the grants of two pieces of land by the Srikarana Suru-sēnäpati, the donor of the grant recorded in No. 1, on Friday, Phālguna-badi 1, in Saka 1158 and in the Anks year 31 (i.e. in the 25th regnal year) of the reign of Anankabhimadēva (Anangabhima III). According to the Indian Ephemeris, in the Saka year 1158 expired, Phālguna-badi 1 fell on February 12, 1237 A.D., which was, however, a Thursday and not Friday as given in the record. The first of the two pieces of gift land measured one Vāți and was situated in a locality called RāvangaAlasanä (or Alasana in the Rāvanga division). It was made in favour of the god Purushottama for making provision for the supply of one Māna (probably the same as Mana equivalent to
1 Ona Historical Research Journal, Vol. I, No. 1, pp. 48 ff.; above, pp. 19 ff.
Ind. Cult., Vol. VI, p. 73; Journ. Kal. Hist. Res. Soc., Vol. I, pp. 251 ff. .811, Vol. V, Nos. 1164-6, 1214 ; Vol. VI, No. 714, 938. See abovo, Vol. XIII, p. 163 (text, line 17).
