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PRINCELY PATRONAGE
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kingdom. In the line of Sridatta arose king Priyabandhuvarmā during whose reign Pārśya Bhattāraka is said to have obtained kevaļajñāna. At this Saudharmmendra came and performed kevalapūjā, on which Priyabandhuvarmā himself embraced Jainism.
This uncommon account which is not supported by earlier versions, then continues to narrate the further history of the Ganga line in which Daạiga and Mādhava, the sons of Padmanābha, were born. Their meeting with Simhanandi, which we have already commented upon, is next narrated ; and it is said that they constructed a caityālaya on the beautiful hill of Mandali, on the advice of Simhanandi Ācārya. In their line arose king Avinīta Ganga "in whose heart the supreme Jina foot-print was fixed as a rock of mount Meru." Then after many kings (named) came Mārasimha's son Rācamalla, who is called "a moon to the ocean—the Jina dharma"; and long afterwards we have two rulers--Rakkasa Ganga, the disciple of Anantavīrya Siddhāntadeva, and his younger brother Kali Ganga. It was during Kali Ganga's rule that Bhujabala Ganga Brahma (Barmma) Deva constructed the Pațţada basadi on the Mandali hill in stone, as narrated above.?
What seems clear from the long account given in the above Siddheśvara temple record is that, inspite of its many statements of doubtful authenticity, it nevertheless enables us to affirm that the early Ganga kings, notwithstanding the patronage which they extended to Brahmans, still professed the Jina faith. This conclusion is, as we have already noted, warranted by, for instance, the Narasimharājapara plates of Sivamāra. And as for Nanniya Ganga, the fact that he was a Jaina is proved by the Icavādi stone inscription cited
1. E. C. VII, Sh. 4, pp. 4-9.
