Medieval Inscriptions in yhe Caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri

There are three inscriptions; one at Lalatendukesari Gumpha^[1] and two in Navamuni Gumpha^[2] belonging to the reign of Somavamsi king Uddyotakesari^[3], son and successor of Yayati-II Chandihara Mahasivagupta are noticed. These inscriptions have been earlier read by R.D Banerjee and subsequently improved by K.C Panigrahi.

A. Ganesa-Gumpha Inscription

This inscription is found engraved at the back side of the inner wall of the cave popularly known as Gane a-Gumph^[4]. An image of Gane a is also found carved near the inscription. The inscription is written in verse, the language is Sanskrit and the script is the eastern variety of north Indian alphabet of about the 9^th century CE of the time of Bhoumakara king ntikara.

The first verse of the inscription records a prayer that the affluent reign of ri-ntikara may carry on as long as the moon and the sun exist and prevail upon every house of people of Viraj by the grace of lord Gane a and the assembly of sages (residing in the caves of the hill). The second verse records about one Bh mata, the physician who was born of the womb of Ijy and Nannata made a vow in order to donate one prastha measure of paddy every year (apparently for feeding the sages and for the worship of lord Ganesha).

B. Mishra^[5] interprets the record as “The physician Bhimata, the son of Nannata, born of the womb of Ijy, made a vow after one year’s practice of asceticism in the assembly of sages(punge) called vedi being Gane a to practice again from the time of ntikaradeva’s good reign till the sun and the moon exist”.

B. Lalatendukesari Cave Inscription of Udyotakesari, Year 5

The inscription is incised on the back wall of the Lalatendukesari cave and records five lines of writing. It was discovered by S. Ganguly, photographer of the ASI in 1993. The script of the inscription is the eastern variety of northern class of alphabet and language is Sanskrit written in prose style which is assignable to later half of the 11^th century CE. The inscription is inscribed on the 5^th regnal year of king Udyatakesari of Somavamsi dynasty records that the decayed stepped well (vapi) and decayed temples were caused to repaired and the images of twenty four Tirthankaras were installed at the sacred place on the illustrious Kumaraparvata^[6] in the presence of one Hariopa Jasanandin(Yasonandin).

C. Navamuni Cave Inscription of Udyotakesari, Year 18

The inscription is found incised on the inner side of the architrave which consists of three lines of writing. The script of the inscription is eastern variety of northern class of alphabet and language is Sanskrit written in prose style which is assignable to later half of the 11^th century CE. The inscription was incised during the 18^th regnal year of Udyotakesari^[7].

The inscription purports to record some pious act performed by Subhachandra, the disciple of Kulachandra, an acharya of the Desi gana during the eighteenth regnal year of the illustrious king Udyotakesarideva.

D. Navamuni Cave Inscription of Udyotakesari

The inscription is incised on the portion between the two inner chambers in the cave. The records consists of two parts, the first part contains a one line incomplete sentence while the second part contains three lines. The script of the inscription is eastern variety of northern class of alphabet and language is Sanskrit written in prose style which is assignable to later half of the 11^th century CE^[8].

The first part of the inscription records the name of one Sridhara. The second part seems to record a pious act performed by a certain Vija, a pupil of Khalla Subhachandra, who was himself the disciple of Kulachandra during the eighteenth reigning period of king Udayotakesarideva.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

R.D. Banerjee, EI, Vol. XIII, 1915-16, pp.168 ff.

[2]:

Ibid.

[3]:

Ibid.

[4]:

S. Tripathy, Inscriptions of Orissa, Vol. II, New Delhi, 2000, pp.118-119.

[5]:

B. Mishra, Orissa under the Bhauma kings, p.10.

[6]:

S. Tripathy, Descriptive Topographical Catalogue of Orissan Inscriptions, New Delhi, 2010, pp.298-300.

[7]:

Ibid.

[8]:

S.N. Rajguru, IO, Vol. IV, 1966, p.242.