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VIJAYANAGARA'S PLEDGE
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Rāya. When in A.D. 1048 he granted specified land to the Jaina sages in charge of the Jajāhuti śāntinātha basadi in Belligāmc, as narrated already in an earlier context, he ordered that in the Banavasenād the Jaina habitation, Vişnu habitation, iśvara habitation, and a habitation for the muni ganas should be constructed. And this the sculptor Nāgavarmā caused to be made.1
Like him there were Hindu noblemen, too, who made no distinction between the votaries of the two faiths. Bammarasa, the viceroy of the Noļambavādi 32,000 province, granted in A.D. 1109 to the Jinālaya and to the god Sarppeśvara certain money dues and other gifts, impartially.
Few citizens could rival those of Balligāme for an enlightened outlook on religious creeds. Hospitable to strangers, of one speech, prudent, devoted to dharma, and honour, the citizens of that famous centre were famous as worshippers of Hari, Hara, Pankajāsana (Brahmā), Jina, and other gods. The record dated A.D. 1129 which contains this information, tells us that they built in that city the temples of Hari, Hara, Kamalākşa, Vītarāga, and Buddha.?
An instance of a chieftain who made no distinction between his own and other faiths is that of Vişnuvardhana, who belonged to the Mitra kula and Adala varśa. In about A.D. 1140 he constructed śiva temples and Jinālayas within his jurisdiction.
The Jainas showed how they could suit themselves to the changing circumstances of the times by inserting in a purely Jaina inscription (dated A.D. 1151) the following
1. E. C. VII. Sk. 120, p. 91, op. cit. 2. Ibid, XI. Dg. 12, p. 27 3. Ibid, VII, Sk. 100, p. 69. 4. Ibid, IX, Nl. 84, pp. 48-49.
