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INTRODUCTION
23
We may now turn to Pravarasena II of the elder branch, who has been assigned to the period circa 420-50 A. D. Nandivardhana, identified with Nandardhan or Nagardhan, was the capital of the elder branch of the Vākāțakas. It was about three miles from the sacred hill of Rāmțek, a well-known centre of pilgrimage, twentyeight miles from Nagpur. Rāmțek is no doubt Rāmagiri, immortalized by Kalidasa in his Meghadūta and described as being marked with Rāma's footprints venerated by men. Rāmagiri seems to have played a significant part in the cultural life of the Vakāțakas. A land-grant of Prabbāvatīguptā, mother of Pravarasena II, was issued from the feet of the lord of Rāmagiri'?, which seems to be a reference to the shrine of Rāma at Rāmagiri, or perhaps his pādukās which are still worshipped at Rāmțek. The grant was made in the nineteenth year of Pravarasena's reign ; and he, like his mother, no doubt venerated the shrine of Rāma in close vicinity to the capital. It was probably from Rāmagiri that Pravarasena drew his inspiration for writing a poem on the deeds of Rāma, laying stress on the building of the great causeway described by him as 'the abiding symbol of Rāma's fame.' Several early sculptures depicting scenes from the Rāmāyaṇa have also been discovered at Pavnār, a village six miles from Wardha, supposed to represent the site of the city of Pravara. pura founded by Pravarasena. These panels possibly belonged to a temple of Rāma built at the new city.3
1 On Rāmagiri see Mirashi, Studies in Indology, Vol. 1, p. 12 ff; Vol. IV. p. 42 ff. 2 Rāmagirisvāminaḥ pādamulāt, Mirashi, Inscriptions of the Vakāļakas, p. 35. Padamula
is a polite expression for pāda. It is frequently used in the early Prakrit prose romance Vasudevahindi, e.g., sāmissa pasādena coram samipādamulam uvanemi, p. 39; jinasāsanadhammam souņa daļhacittassa pāyamūle, p. 49 etc. The word müla is used alone to indicate nearness, e.g., mama mulam dhāvamāno agato, p. 44 ;
visajjio me parijano gharam ammāe mulam, p. 46 etc. 3 Mirashi, op. cit., p. 23 and Introd., chap. XI.
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