SII 1.43: original edition by Eugen Hultzsch

Alternative title: “PART II. TAMIL AND GRANTHA INSCRIPTIONS. II. INSCRIPTIONS IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF VELŪR. No. 43. ON A STONE AT ARAPPAKKAM NEAR VELŪR.”

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis (emfr).

Summary: This and the next-following seven inscriptions record grants to Jvarakhaṇḍeśvarasvāmin of Velūr, i.e., to the Vellore Temple, which is nowadays called Jalakaṇṭheśvara.1 The name of the temple is spelt Jvarakaṇḍeśvara in five inscriptions, Jvarakaṇṭheśvara in two others and Jvarakaṇḍheśvara in one of them. The Sanskrit original of these various forms seems to have been Jvarakhaṇḍeśvara. Jvarakhaṇḍa, “the destroyer of fever,” would be a synonym of Jvarahara, which is applied to Śiva in the name of one of the Kāñchīpuram temples.2

The inscriptions Nos. 43 to 46 are dated on the same day of the Akshaya year, which was current after the expiration of the Śaka year 1488, and during the reign of Sadāśivadeva-mahārāyar. They record grants which were made to the Vellore Temple at the request of Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of Velūr by the mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Tirumalaiyadeva-mahārāja, also called Tirumalai-rājayaṉ, (the younger brother of) Rāmarāja, with the consent of Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar.

The historical results obtained from these four inscriptions are:—

1. That Sadāśiva-deva of Vijayanagara was still alive in 1566-67 A.D., i.e., ten years after the latest grant mentioned in my second paper on the Karṇāṭa Dynasty.3

2. That, after the death of his elder brother Rāma, Tirumala-rāja of Karṇāṭa4 continued to acknowledge the king of Vijayanagara as his sovereign and submitted to the title of mahāmaṇḍaleśvara.

3. The Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of the four inscriptions is perhaps identical with “Bommi Reddi or Naidu,” to whom tradition assigns the foundation of the Vellore Temple.5

The Viḷāpāka grant of Veṅkaṭa I. of Karṇāṭa dated Śaka 1523 mentions a certain Liṅga-bhūpāla, son of Velūri-Bomma-nṛipati and grandson of Vīrappa-nāyaka- kshmāpa.6 Velūri-Bomma is evidently the same as Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka of Velūr. From the title “prince”, which the Viḷāpāka grant attributes to Bomma and to his father and son, it follows that his family were petty chiefs under the kings of Karṇāṭa, who were again nominally dependent on the kings of Vijayanagara.

The inscription No. 43, as mentioned in Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities,7 records the gift of the village of Aṟappakkam, where it is still found.

Languages: Sanskrit (san), Tamil (tam).

Version: (3992bd7), last modified (0ec4724).

Edition

⟨1⟩ śubhamastu svasti [||] śrīsadā-

⟨2⟩ śivadevamahārāyar· p¿ri?-

⟨3⟩ thivirājyam paṇṇi Aru-

⟨4⟩ ḷāniṉṟa cakābdaM 1000 4 100 8 10-

⟨5⟩ 8 N meṟcellāni⟨ṉ⟩ṟa

⟨6⟩ Akṣayasa⟨ṁ⟩vaTssarattu ku-

⟨7⟩ mpanāyaṟṟu Aparapakṣa-

⟨8⟩ ttu dvādaśi saumyavāsa-

⟨9⟩ rattu nāḷ śrīmaNmahāma-

⟨10⟩ ṇḍaleśvararāmarājatiru-

⟨11⟩ malaiyadevamahārājā-

⟨12⟩ vukku velūr ciṉṉapo-

⟨13⟩ mmunāyakkar viṇṇap-

⟨14⟩ pañceykaiyil tiruma-

⟨15⟩ lairājayaṉ sadāśivadeva-

⟨16⟩ mahārāyar· pātattile

⟨17⟩ viṇṇappañceytu ⌈-

⟨18⟩ velūr jvarakaṇḍeśvara-

⟨19⟩ svāmikku Aṃgaraṃgavai-

⟨20⟩ bhavattukku viṭuvitta grā-

⟨21⟩ mam Aṟappakkam ௳ dānap-

⟨22⟩ ālanayormmaddhye dānā-

⟨23⟩ cśreyonupālanaM dā-

⟨24⟩ nāT svarggamavāpnoti p-

⟨25⟩ ālanādac¿c?uta¿M? padaM ௳

Translation by Hultzsch 1890

Let there be prosperity! Hail! After Śiṉṉa-Bommu-nāyaka (of) Velūr had made a petition to the illustrious mahāmaṇḍaleśvara Rāmarāja-Tirumalaiya-deva-mahārāja,— Tirumalai-rājayaṉ, having made a petition at the feet of Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar, gave the village of Aṟappakkam to (the temple of) Jvarakaṇḍeśvara-svāmin (at) Velūr for (providing) all kinds of enjoyments,8 on Wednesday the twelfth lunar day of the latter half of the month of Kumbha of the Akshaya-saṁvatsara, which was current after the Śaka year 1488 (had passed), while the illustrious Sadāśiva-deva-mahārāyar was pleased to rule the earth.

(Line 21.) “Of a gift and protection, protection is more meritorious than a gift; by a gift one obtains (only) heaven, by protection the eternal abode.”

Bibliography

Digital edition of SII 1.43 by Hultzsch 1890 converted to DHARMA conventions by Emmanuel Francis.

Primary

[SII] Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1890. South-Indian inscriptions, Tamil and Sanskrit, from stone and copper-plate edicts at Mamallapuram, Kanchipuram, in the North Arcot district, and other parts of the Madras Presidency, chiefly collected in 1886-87. Volume I. South Indian Inscriptions 1. Madras: Government Press. Pages 69–71, item 43.

Notes

  1. 1. North Arcot Manual, p. 189.

  2. 2. Sewell’s Lists of Antiquities, Vol. I, p. 180.

  3. 3. Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, p. 154.

  4. 4. Loc. cit., p. 155.

  5. 5. North Arcot Manual, p. 188. In the Velai-mānagar-charitram (printed at Velūr in the Dhātu year, i.e., A.D. 1876) he is called Bommaiya-Reḍḍiyār.

  6. 6. Ind. Ant., Vol. XIII, p. 127.

  7. 7. Vol. I, p. 165.

  8. 8. Aṅgaraṅgavaibhavam is a synonym of aṅgaraṅgavaibhogam, which occurs in Nos. 47 and 48 and means, according to Winslow, “all worldly enjoyments.”