Mahābalipuram, Shore temple, capital inscription

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

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 Siddhamātṛkā, while the rest of the inscription is in Grantha. The double daṇḍa is of the type where both daṇḍas are joined.

Language: Sanskrit (san) [Grantha (grantha), Siddhamātr̥kā (siddhamātr̥kā)].

Repository: Pallava (tfa-pallava-epigraphy).

Identifier: DHARMA_INSPallava00382.

File path: DHARMA_INSPallava00382.xml.

Version: 2026-06-25 18:05 (0793166), last modified 2026-06-08 11:06 (c728af1).

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 and 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 and A. Vishnu Bhat. 1999. “Shore Temple: South-side capital inscription.” JESI 25, pp. 20–25.

[L2] Lockwood, Michael, Vishnu Bhat A, Gift Siromoney and 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, 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 281, item IR 42.

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This is a biscript inscription.

The honorific <foreign>śrī</foreign> is written in Siddhamātṛkā, while the rest of the inscription is in Grantha.

The double <foreign>daṇḍa</foreign> is of the type where both <foreign>daṇḍa</foreign>s are joined.

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<p>The glorious lion among kings.</p>

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<p>Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.</p>

<p>Le glorieux lion de la classe guerrière <supplied reason="explanation"><foreign>kṣatra</foreign></supplied>.</p>

<p>Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.</p>

<p>Le glorieux dont le diadème est Maheśvara <supplied reason="explanation">Śiva</supplied>.</p>

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