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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
emblems at the top of the tablet are:-In the centre, a linga and priest; to the right, a cow and calf; and to the left, Basava.
No. 5, which is another inscription in the Old Canarese characters and language, is contained on a stone tablet which I found lying on the edge of a small tank just outside the temple enclosure. For the sake of better security I had it removed and placed up against the outer side of the south wall of the courtyard of the temple; the stone was too large and heavy for it to be safe to attempt to carry it inside the courtyard and place it by the other inscriptions there. This inscription consists of fifty-seven lines, each line containing about thirty-eight letters. It records a grant in Saka 1121, the Siddharthi Samvatsara, by the great chieftain Râ y a dê va, the supreme lord of Asati mayûrapura, the prime minister of the Hoysala king Viraballâ ladê va, the son of Bammidêva, who was the son of Râyadêva, and the governor of the Belvola Threehundred. The emblems at the top of this tablet are-In the centre, a linga and priest; to the right, a figure of Basava with the moon above it; and to the left, a cow and calf with the sun above them.
Inscriptions Nos. 6, 7, and 8 are half-buried in the back wall of a house that adjoins the southern or back wall of the courtyard of the temple. No. 6, which is in the Old Canarese characters and language, has about fifteen lines visible above the ground; each line contains about thirty-seven letters. The inscription is in a tolerably good state of preservation. It refers to the time of Sankamadêva (Saka 1098-1104) of the Kalachuri family, the supreme lord of the city of Kalanjarapura, who is spoken of in terms that are usually applied to great monarchs such as the Chalukya kings. The emblems at the top of this tablet are:-In the centre, a linga with a figure seated on the right of it and another figure standing on the left of it; to the right, a figure of Basava with the sun beyond it; and to the left, a cow and calf with the moon beyond them. No. 7 is an inscription in the Nâgarî or Grantha characters and in the Sanskrit language. There are eleven lines above the ground; each line contains about thirty-one letters. The inscription is in good order, but the portion of it above the ground is not sufficient to indicate
[OCTOBER, 1873.
its contents. The emblems at the top of the tablet are:-In the centre, a linga and priest; to the right, a cow and calf with the sun or moon above them; and to the left, a figure of Basava with the moon or sun above it. No. 8 is another inscription in the Old Canarese characters and language. It refers to the time of Tribhuvanamalla dêva. There are eighteen lines above the ground; each line contains about twenty-five letters. The first seven or eight lines of the inscription are in good order; after that, the letters are rather faint, and a large portion of the surface has been chipped off in the centre of the tablet. The emblems at the top of the tablet are:-In the centre, a linga and priest; to the right, a cow and calf with the sun above them; and to the left, a figure of Basava with the moon above it. These three inscriptions are worth removing, cleaning, and reading, but to remove them would be an operation of some difficulty and would be attended by great risk to the safety of the building into the wall of which they have been sunk.
No. 9 is an inscription in the Canarese characters and language on a tablet standing just inside the western gateway of the courtyard. It consists of fourteen lines, each line containing about thirty-five letters. It is dated Śaka 1461, the Vikâri Samvatsara, and records a grant made by, or at the order of, one of the kings of Vijayanagari. The letters of the inscription are not at all well cut, and, being rather hurried when I examined it, I am not quite certain about the name of the king; it appeared, however, to be Avyayaramahârâya, though this name is not included in the list of the kings of Vijayanagara (Prinsep's Indian Antiquities, vol. II. p. 281, Thomas'ed. 1858). The emblems at the top of this tablet, which are very coarsely cut, are:In the centre, a linga; to the right of it, a figure of Basava with the sun above it; and to the left of it, a cow and calf with the moon above them.
It remains to notice in detail inscription No. 2, and its contents. The emblems at the top of the tablet are:-In the centre, a man worshipping three heads on an altar; to the right a figure of Ganapati, beyond which is a figure of Basava; and to the left, a Sakti or female deity, beyond which are a cow and calf and a crooked knife. The meaning of the name Trika têvaradeva is by no means clear, and certainly
