# Kāñcipuram, Mātaṅgeśvara, birudas

Emmanuel Francis

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00392

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSPallava00392.xml

Language: Sanskrit [Grantha]

Commit: 2026-10-08 12:16 (1b1b17c), last modified 2026-09-29 11:09
(6edbbfa)

## Summary

Two glorifying soubriquets (birudas), each one on a different pillar.

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## Edition

### South Pillar

⟨1⟩ śrī-Araty-a(ṁ)kan(·)

### North Pillar

⟨1⟩ śrī-pra(bhu)-p(r̥)¡(t)!⟨th⟩(u)

## Apparatus

### South Pillar

⟨1⟩ śrī-Araty-a(ṁ)kan(·) ⬦ śrī-Aratyakana D; śrī-Aratyaṁkan ARIE;
śrī-Aratyamakaṉ S.

### North Pillar

⟨1⟩ śrī-pra(bhu)-p(r̥)¡(t)!⟨th⟩(u) ⬦ śrī-prabhupatiḥ ARIE;
śrī-prabhupatiḥ S.

## Translation

### South Pillar

⟨1⟩ He who is a hook for pain / He whose hook is painful.[1]

### North Pillar

⟨1⟩ He who is an able Pr̥thu.[2]

## Commentary

Srinivasan 1983 (p. 68), who reads Aratyamakaṉ, suggests it is
equivalent to Aratikalaḥ, a biruda of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava.[3]

## Bibliography

Reported in Jouveau-Dubreuil 1918, in ARIE 1972–73
(ARIE/1972-1973/B/1972-1973/261–262).

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

### Primary

[D] Jouveau-Dubreuil, Gabriel. 1918. Pallava antiquities: Vol. II. Vol.
2. Pondicherry. Page 15.

[ARIE] ARIE 1972–73. Annual report on Indian epigraphy for 1972-73.
Edited by G. S. Gai. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India, 1983.
Page 62, appendixes B/1972-1973, items 261-262.

[S] Srinivasan, K. R. 1983. “Early Toṇḍaināḍu style, c. A.D. 650-800.
Pallavas of Kāñcī. Phase I and Middle Toṇḍaināḍu Style, c. A.D. 800-900.
Pallavas of Kāñcī. Phase II.” In: Encyclopaedia of Indian Temple
Architecture. Vol. I, part 1: South India, Lower Drāviḍadēśa, 200
B.C.–A.D. 1324. Edited by Michael W. Meister & Madhusudan A. Dhaky. New
Delhi and Philadelphia: American Institute of Indian Studies and
University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 23–79 et 87–106. Page 68.

### 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 304, item IR 96.

[1] See other birudas of the Pallavas ending in aṅkuśa, e.g., in
inscription Pallava 55.

[2] Pr̥thu is a mythical paragon of kingship.

[3] See Arātikālaḥ, “he who is death to his enemies,” in inscription
Pallava 55.