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No. 7) BHUBANESWAR INSCRIPTIONS OF ANANTAVARMAN CHODAGANGA
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No. 7-BHUBANESWAR INSCRIPTIONS OF ANANTAVARMAN CHODAGANGA
(1 Plate)
D. C. SIRCAR, OOTACAMUND The mighty Ganga monarch Anantavarman Chodaganga (2078-1147 A. C.) of Kalinganagara near modern Srikākuļam (Chicacole) was successively followed on the Ganga throne by no luss than four of his song, viz., (1) Kämärnava (circa 1147-56 A. C.), (2) Raghava (circa 1156-70 A. C.), Rājarāja II (circa 1170-90 A. C.) and Anangabhima II (circa 1190-96 4. C.). Although Anantavarman Chōdaganga is stated to have conquered Utkala, founded the great temple of the god Purushottama-Jagannātha at Puri and levied tribute from the whole east coast land up to the Bhagirathi (Ganges),' no record of himself or his immediate successors was formerly known to have come from any place in Orissa. For a long time therefore three Bhubaneswar (Puri District, Orissa) inscriptions of the time of Anangabhima II were regarded as the earliest Ganga inscriptions in Orissa, although they would necessarily belong to an age nearly a century after the conquest of coastal Orissa by Chodaganga about the beginning of the twelfth century. One of the three records is the Ananta-Vasudeva temple (Bhubaneswar) inscription of Svapnēsvara, husband of a sister of Anangabhima II, while the remaining two were stated to be incised on the south jamb of the great Lingarāja temple at Bhubaneswar. But, as we have sho.n elsewhere', the said two Lingarāja temple inscriptions belong not to the reign of Anangabhima II but to that of his grandson Anangabhima III whose accession is usually assigned to 1211 A. C.
As, in the Vizagapatam plates, Chodaganga is stated to have "placed the fallen lord of Utkala in his kingdom in the eastern region", R. D. Banerji observes, "It is interesting to note that no inscriptions of this king have yet been discovered in the Puri, Cuttack and Balasore Districts of Northern Orissa. This perhaps proves that some local king was still ruling over Northern Orissa, who had been reinstated by Ananta varman, as stated in his inscriptions." But he ignores the fact that, according to the Kendupatna plates, Gangesvara (Ananta varman Chōdaganga) by "defeating the king of Utkala......obtained a Lakshmi-like kingdom" and that this undoubtedly points to the subsequent annexation of Utkala by the Ganga king. Recently we had reports of the existence of a few inscriptions of Chádaganga's reign in the Puri-Cuttack region. One of these was traced at Alagum near Puri and has already been published in the pages of this journal,
It is a matter of regret that the numerous inscriptions in the great Lingarāja temple at Bhubaneswar have not been properly studied so far. Recently, I had an opportunity of examining the impressions of a large number of the Lingarāja temple inscriptions, which are lying in the office of the Government Epigraphist for India at Ootacamund. Among them I was very glad to find several records belonging to the reign of Anantavarman Chodaganga together with a few bearing
Cf. above, Vol. XXVIII, pp. 241 f. : Above, Vol. VI, pp. 198 ff.
JASB, 1903, p. 115. See above, p. 18.
History of Orissa, Vol. I, p. 250. . Cf. Ray, DHVI, Vol. I, p. 469. * Above, Vol. XXIX, pp. 44 ff.
