Mahābalipuram, Kōṭikal Maṇḍapa, biruda

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

Summary: A biruda.

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Grantha (grantha)].

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00061.

File path: DHARMA_INSPallava00061.xml.

Version: 2026-08-26 06:31 (95a9465), last modified 2026-08-26 06:31 (95a9465).

Edition

⟨1⟩ śrī-vāmā(ṁ)kuśaḥ

Apparatus

⟨1⟩ śrī-vāmā(ṁ)kuśaḥ • Hultzsch 1909–1910, p. 8, n. 1 notes that the anusvāra is doubtful. It does not indeed appear clearly on the visual documentation published in Hultzsch 1909–1910, p. 8, № 19. In situ, it seems to be above the letter ku. • The visarga is clear in situ. Brocquet 1997, p. 586, n. 1056 reads śrī-vāmāṅkuśa and notes that this should be analysed as a Vocative form.

Translation

The glorious hook of Vāma (Śiva).

The glorious one whose hook is splendid/terrible/cruel.

The glorious pleasant hook.

Translation into French

Le glorieux croc de Vāma (Śiva).

Le glorieux au croc splendide/terrible/cruel.

Le glorieux aimable croc.

Translation into French by Brocquet 1997

Ô Śrī-Vāmāṅkuṣa¹ (le croc de Vāma).

Translation by Hultzsch 1909–1910

The glorious Vāmāṅkuśa (bearer of handsome elephant-goad).

Commentary

The inscription―the only one on the monument bearing it―consists in what appears to be a biruda, “gloryfying soubriquet.” Although Pallava kings have had hundreds of their birudas engraved on their monuments, this one does not appear among these and is found only on this pillar of the Kōṭikal Maṇḍapa. Note that the biruda Vāma is engraved twice on the Dharmarājaratha at Mahābalipuram. Vāmāṅkuṣa might be the biruda of one among the Pallava biruda-bearers of Mahābalipuram or of an obscure Pallava prince or, as suggested by Srinivasan 1964, p. 110, of a chief, subordinated to the Pallavas.

Bibliography

Reported in ARIE 1907–08 (ARIE/1907-1908/B/1907/530).

Edited in Hultzsch 1909–1910 (EI 10.1.18), with visual documentation. Text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP 61). Text and translation in Brocquet 1997.

This revised edition by Emmanuel Francis, based on autopsy, photos (2009), and visual documentation published in Hultzsch 1909–1910.

Primary

[EI] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1909–1910. “The Pallava inscriptions of the Seven Pagodas.” EI 10, pp. 1–14. Page 8, item 19.

[SII] Venkatasubba Ayyar, V. & C. R. Krishnamacharlu. 1943. South Indian inscriptions. Volume XII: The Pallavas (with introductory notes in English). South Indian Inscriptions 12. Madras: Government Press. Page 11, item 23.

[IP] Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan. Page 199, item 61.

[B] Brocquet, Sylvain. 1997. “Les inscriptions sanskrites des Pallava : poésie, rituel, idéologie.” Thèse de doctorat, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle. Paris. Page 586, item 45.

Secondary

[ARIE] ARIE 1907–08. G.O. No. 574, 17th July 1908. Epigraphy. Recording the progress report of the Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for Epigraphy, Southern Circle, for the year 1907-1908. Edited by V. Venkayya. No place, 1908. Page 36, appendix B/1907, item 530.

Srinivasan, K. R. 1964. Cave-temples of the Pallavas. Architectural survey of temples 1. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Page 110.

Francis, Emmanuel. 2013. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne : inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IVème-IXème 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 289.

Notes

1. En l’absence d’autre désinence, on peut interpréter cette forme comme un vocatif.

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The glorious hook of Vāma <supplied reason="explanation">Śiva</supplied>.

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The glorious one whose hook is splendid/terrible/cruel.

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The glorious pleasant hook.

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Le glorieux croc de Vāma <supplied reason="explanation">Śiva</supplied>.

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Le glorieux au croc splendide/terrible/cruel.

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Le glorieux aimable croc.

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Ô Śrī-Vāmāṅkuṣa<note>En l’absence d'autre désinence, on peut interpréter cette forme comme un vocatif.</note> <supplied reason="explanation">le croc de Vāma</supplied>.

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The glorious Vāmāṅkuśa <supplied reason="explanation">bearer of handsome elephant-goad</supplied>.

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The inscription―the only one on the monument bearing it―consists in what appears to be a <foreign>biruda</foreign>, “gloryfying soubriquet.” Although Pallava kings have had hundreds of their <foreign>biruda</foreign>s engraved on their monuments, this one does not appear among these and is found only on this pillar of the Kōṭikal Maṇḍapa. Note that the <foreign>biruda</foreign> Vāma is engraved twice on the Dharmarājaratha at Mahābalipuram. Vāmāṅkuṣa might be the <foreign>biruda</foreign> of one among the Pallava <foreign>biruda</foreign>-bearers of Mahābalipuram or of an obscure Pallava prince or, as suggested by <bibl><ptr target="bib:Srinivasan1964_01"/><citedRange unit="page">110</citedRange></bibl>, of a chief, subordinated to the Pallavas.

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