Mēlaccēri, foundation, time of Candrāditya

Editor: Emmanuel Francis.

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00249.

Summary: Foundation of the Śrī-Śikhari-Pallaveśvara, at Siṅhapura, by Candrāditya.

Hand description:

Language: Sanskrit.

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).

Version: (a90ca73), last modified (a0ca2ab).

Edition

I. Āryā

⟨1⟩ kāritam idan nṛpatinā ⟨2⟩ candrādityena sarvva-nā(the)na

ab

⟨3⟩ śrī-śikhari-pallaveśvaram iti ⟨4⟩ śaivan dhāma siṅhapure

cd

Apparatus

⟨2⟩ (nāthe)na ⬦ (the)na SII.

⟨4⟩ dhāma ⬦ dhā(ma) SII.

Translation by Srinivasan 19641

This home of Śiva named Śrī-śikhari-pallaveśvaram, was caused to be made at Siṁhapura (Ciṅkavaram) by king Candrāditya who was a sarvanātha.

Translation into French by Brocquet 1997

Le roi Candrāditya, maître de l’univers, fit construire

Cette demeure de Śiva, appelée Śrī-Śikhari-Pallaveśvara, à Siṁhapura (siṅhapure).

Commentary

(2) The founder Candrāditya has not been identified with certainty. He could be a Pallava prince, not known from other sources. According to Srinivasan 1964, p. 118 he might be a Cāḷukya prince, contemporary of the Pallava king Narasiṁhavarman II Māmalla, who was the son of Pulakeśin and is known from records of his queen Vijayamahādevī. Srinivasan 1964 notes that Vijayamahādevī is known as Pōtti, the feminine of Pōttaṉ, that is, Pallava, and suggests that she was a Pallava princess. This would explain how her husband, a Cāḷukya prince, could have founded a rock-cut cave in the Pallava realm. However, Nagaswamy 1982, p. 188 considers that the cave was founded by a Pallava king, as the name Pallava is included in the name of the foundation and as Pallava kings had birudas ending with the term āditya.

(3) The name Śrī-Śikhari-Pallaveśvara might be translated as "The glorious [temple] of the Lord of the Pallava Śikharin." Śikharin (literally "peaked" or "mountain") appears to be the biruda (gloryfying soubriquet) of an unidentified Pallava king, meaning "eminent." This is its only attestattion. Alternatively, one could also translated "The glorious [temple] of the Lord of the Pallava [founded by] Śikharin." In that case Śikharin would be a biruda of the founder Candrāditya."

(4) The placename Siṁhapura ("The city of the lion") is reflected in that of the nearby village Ciṅkavaram.

Bibliography

Reported in Krishna Sastri 1916 (ARIE/1915-1916/C/1916/284).

First tentatively edited and translated into French and into English by Jouveau-Dubreuil 1916–1917 and Jouveau-Dubreuil 1916 with visual documentation. Edited in Venkatasubba Ayyar 1943 with visual documentation (SII 12.115). Text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP 249). Edited and translated into French by Brocquet 1997 (B 68).

This revised edition Emmanuel Francis, based on the visual documentation published in Venkatasubba Ayyar 1943 and photos (2008).

Primary

[JD1] Jouveau-Dubreuil, Gabriel. 1916. Pallava antiquities: Vol. I. Vol. 1. London: Probsthain. Pages 65–66, plate XXXII (facing page 65).

[JD2] Jouveau-Dubreuil, Gabriel. 1916–1917. “Les antiquités de l’époque Pallava.” Revue historique de l'Inde française 1, pp. 5–76. Pages 63–65, plate XXXII (facing page 61).

[SII] Venkatasubba Ayyar, V. 1943. South Indian inscriptions. Volume XII: The Pallavas (with introductory notes in English). South Indian Inscriptions 12. Madras: Government Press. Item 115, page 54, plate V (facing page 17).

[IP] Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan. Item 249, page 623.

[B] Brocquet, Sylvain. 1997. “Les inscriptions sanskrites des Pallava : poésie, rituel, idéologie.” Thèse de doctorat, Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle. Paris. Item 68, page 776.

Secondary

[ARIE] Krishna Sastri, H. 1916. G.O. No. 99, 29th August 1916. Epigraphy. Recording, with remarks, the progress report of the Assistant Archaeological Superintendent for epigraphy, Southern Circle, for the year 1915-1916. No place. Page 92, appendix C/1916, item 284.

Srinivasan, K. R. 1964. Cave-temples of the Pallavas. Architectural survey of temples 1. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India. Pages 116–118.

Nagaswamy, R. 1982. Tantric cult of South India. Delhi: Agam Kala Prakashan.

Notes

  1. 1. Text standardised according to DHARMA transliteration scheme.