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No. 39-KANCHIPURAM INSCRIPTION OF THE TIME OF ACHYUTARAYA, SAKA 1453
K. G. KRISHNAN AND V. S. SUBRAHMANYAM, OOTACAMUND
(Received on 7. 12. 1957)
The subjoined inscription is engraved on the east wall of the old Sabhanayaka shrine in the Ekamranatha temple at Kanchipuram in the Chingleput District, Madra 8. The inscription contains two parts, one in Sanskrit engraved in Grantha characters and the other, which is incomplete, in Tamil in the Tamil script mixed with Grantha. The Sanskrit portion is couched in verses in Anushṭubh intercepted by a prose passage which has also been numbered along with the rest. There is nothing particular to note regarding palaeography or orthography. The inscription is important from the point of view of literary history as it throws light on the authorship and date of four literary compositions in Sanskrit.
The epigraph is dated in the reign of Achyutaraya of the Tuluva dynasty of Vijayanagara and the details of the date, viz., Saka 1453,' Khara, Kumbha su. 3, Revati, Friday, correspond to 1532 A.D., February 9, the nakshatra being current till 34 of the following day.
The epigraph commences with two stanzas invoking respectively the gods Vighnesvara and Siva. Then it introduces king Achyuta of the Tuluva dynasty, whose greatness is described at length and who is described as the son of Narasa. The king's commander-in-chief Salaka Tirumala is described next as the lord of Ondana-mandala. It is stated that he defeated the Pandya and Kerala kings and acquired sovereignty over them. This Tirumala is then stated to have installed Bhogarāja, son of Timmaraja of the solar race, as governor at Käñchi. Then the record proceeds to narrate an important event that happened during the governorship of Bhōgaraja at Kanchi. Bhōgaraja worshipped Lord Ekamranatha and summoned an assembly of learned Siva-Brāhmaṇas, Māhesvaras and temple officials before the god Ekamresvara. Two other persons, one described as Ramachandra's brother and the other as Nārāyaṇa, were also present. On that occasion, the assembly listened to four literary works in Sanskrit composed by Srinivasa, viz. Sivabhaktivilāsa (stated to have been an account of the lives of the 63 Saiva devotees), Charaṇādistava, Bhōgāvalī and Nāmāvalī. Śrīnivāsa, the author of these works, is represented as the son of Sitarama of the Bharadvaja götra and as a resident of Cheyarur. He is also stated to have been well-versed in the Samaveda and to have performed the Vajapeya sacrifice acquiring thereby the singular privilege of carrying the white umbrella. In appreciation of the compositions mentioned above, the sabha is said to have made presents of ornaments and clothes to the poet and to have also arranged for the poet's permanent residence at Kanchi by purchasing a house for him. The house stood on a site, 40' wide, in the northern part of the eastern row of houses in Nallakampa-vithi to the south of the outer prākāra of the Ekamranatha temple. The poet also received a sivamana of rice daily and five bhāras of grains and five panas per month, to be enjoyed hereditarily. It was further enjoined upon the members of the sabha to see that this gift continues uninterruptedly. The Tamil portion, which is unfinished, refers to the above four works, to the assembly and to Bhogayadeva-mahārāja, the karttar of the place.
1 A. R. Ep., 1955-56, App. B, No. 274.
The Saka year is obtained from the chronogram Sakshmi-bhagye which is apparently a mistake for Lakshmibhagye because the latter form, besides being more sensible, agrees with the cyclic year Khara which corresponds to Saka 1453. The chronogram is based on the Kafapayadi system.
That the persons who performed the Vajapeya sacrifice were entitled to hold the white umbrella as an honour is indicated by the Ramayana, Ayodhya Kanda, Canto 45, verses 22-23, and Govindaraja's commentary thereon.
The length of the site is stated to have been the same as that of the adjoining house.
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