# Mahābalipuram, Shore temple, capital inscription

Emmanuel Francis

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00382

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSPallava00382.xml

Language: Sanskrit [Grantha, Siddhamātr̥kā]

Commit: 2026-11-11 17:29 (458e70c), last modified 2026-09-29 11:09
(6edbbfa)

## Summary

A list of 4 birudas on a capital stone found lying around the Shore
temple.

## Palaeographic description

This is a biscript inscription. The honorific śrī is written in
Siddhamātr̥kā, while the rest of the inscription is in Grantha. The
double daṇḍa is of the type where both daṇḍas are joined.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Edition

⟨1⟩ śrī-rāja-siṁhaḥ ∥ śrī-kṣatra-siṁhaḥ ∥ śrī-na□rendra-siṁhaḥ ∥
śrī-maheśvara□-cūḷāmaṇiḥ

## Apparatus

⟨1⟩ śrī-na□rendrasiṁhaḥ ⬦ śrī-narendrasiṁhaḥ L2 • The surface defect
seems the best explanation for the space left blank. The image in
Lockwood (p. 265) is misleading as it does not represent the blank space
between na and re. — ⟨1⟩ śrī-maheśvara- □ cūḷāmaṇiḥ ⬦ śrī-maheśvara- _
cūḷāmaṇiḥ L2 • The surface defect seems again the best explanation for
the space left blank. The restoration candra suggested by Lockwood is
unwarranted, the more so as another blank space interrupts another
biruda.

## Translation

The glorious lion among kings.

The glorious lion of the warrior order (kṣatra).

The glorious lion among kings.

The glorious one whose diadem is Maheśvara (Śiva).

## Translation into French

Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.

Le glorieux lion de la classe guerrière (kṣatra).

Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.

Le glorieux dont le diadème est Maheśvara (Śiva).

## Commentary

Rājasiṁha is the favourite biruda of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava. The
three other birudas are attested in other inscriptions: Kṣatrasiṁha in
Pallava 68 and Pallava 380; Narendrasiṁha in Pallava 60, Pallava 68, and
Pallava 380; Maheśvaracūḷāmaṇi in Pallava 64.

Other birudas of of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava are synonymous with
Maheśvaracūḷāmaṇi: Śivacūḷāmaṇi, Candrārdhaśekharaśikhāmaṇi, and
Maheśvaraśikhāmaṇi.

## Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1993–94 and ARIE 1995–96.

Edited in Lockwood & Vishnu Bhat 1999, in Lockwood et al. 2001, with
visual documentation.

This revised edition by Emmanuel Francis, from autopsy and photos
(Emmanuel Francis, 2004).

### Primary

[ARIE1993-1994] ARIE 1993–94. Annual report on Indian epigraphy for
1993-94. Edited by Madhav N. Katti. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of
India, 1999. Pages 3, 40, appendixes B/1993-1994, item 217.

[ARIE1995-1996] ARIE 1995–96. Annual report on Indian epigraphy for
1995-96. Edited by M. K. Bhadri. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of
India, 2005. Pages 5, 37, appendixes B/1995-1996, item 32.

[L1] Lockwood, Michael & A. Vishnu Bhat. 1999. “Shore Temple: South-side
capital inscription.” JESI 25, pp. 20–25.

[L2] Lockwood, Michael, Vishnu Bhat A, Gift Siromoney & Dayanandan P.
2001. Pallava art. Madras, Tambaram: Tambaram Research Associates. Pages
263–265.

### Secondary

Francis, Emmanuel. 2013. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne :
inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IV^(ème)-IX^(ème) siècles. Tome I :
Introduction et sources. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de
Louvain 64. Louvain-la-Neuve; Paris: Université catholique de Louvain,
Institut orientaliste; Peeters. Page 281, item IR 42.