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Draksharama inscription of Kulottunga I (1103)

Sanskrit inscription in Telugu characters on the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Draksharama, dated in the 33rd year of the Chola king Kulottunga I (1103). It records the deeds of his general Vanduvaraja, also called Pallavaraja, who burnt the Kalinga country, defeated the Ganga king and Devendravarman and set up a pillar of victory on the borders of the Odra country, and his gifts in the Vengi country, including a pavilion at Draksharama. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer identified him with Karunakara Tondaiman, the hero of the Kalingattupparani.

A tall gateway tower of several storeys with openings in the centre of each, rising above a pillared entrance; a car and a few people at its foot.
A tall gateway tower of several storeys with openings in the centre of each, rising above a pillared entrance; a car and a few people at its foot. · M. Rama Rao, Eastern Calukyan Temples of Andhra Desa (Andhra Pradesh Government Archaeological Series No. 19, ed. Mohd. Abdul Waheed Khan, Director of Archaeology); photographer not credited (opens in a new tab) · Public domain in India

This Sanskrit inscription at Draksharama records the deeds of a general of the Chola king Kulottunga I.12 It tells how he burnt Kalinga and made gifts in the Vengi country.3 Its editor thought the general was Karunakara, the hero of a famous Tamil war poem.4

The record

The inscription is on a slab in the south wall of the Bhimesvara temple at Draksharama.5 It was copied in 1893 and printed in South-Indian Inscriptions IV in 1923.56 K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer edited it again in Epigraphia Indica XXII.5 The language is Sanskrit, the letters are Telugu, and the stone is not well preserved.1

It is dated in the 33rd year of Kulottunga I, which Subrahmanya Aiyer equated with 1103.1 It gives the king titles such as Rajarajendra and Rajakesarivarman.1 See the Bhimesvara temple.

What it says

In Subrahmanya Aiyer’s translation, the record praises a chief called Vanduvaraja, Pallavaraja and Tiruvaranga.2 He was the son of Sirilango of Mandalanjeri, in the Chola country.2 At the king’s command he burnt the whole Kalinga country and defeated the Ganga king.23 With the forces of Kosala he destroyed Devendravarman and other chiefs.3 He set up a pillar of victory on the borders of the Odra country (Orissa).3

He also made gifts.3 He built a Vishnu temple of black granite at a Brahmin village called Alaveli.3 He gave land for offerings to the god Panchavati-Hari on the bank of the Godavari “in Vengi-mandala”.3 He built a pavilion at Draksharama.3 Subrahmanya Aiyer could not identify Alaveli.7

Karunakara and the Kalinga war

Subrahmanya Aiyer compared the record with the Tamil poem Kalingattupparani.1 The poem tells how Karunakara led Kulottunga’s army north from Kanchi against the king of northern Kalinga, crossing the Godavari.8 Both the poem and the inscription say the chief burnt Kalinga at the king’s command and set up a pillar of victory.4 So Subrahmanya Aiyer took Vanduvaraja to be Karunakara.4 See Karunakara Tondaiman.

He identified the defeated Devendravarman with the Eastern Ganga king Rajaraja I (1070–1078).9 So he dated the war of the poem before 1078, probably about 1076–77.9 He set it apart from a later Kalinga war of about 1111, led by Kulottunga himself.10

Footnotes

  1. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 139 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  2. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 144, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  3. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 145, translation (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased except for a phrase quoted from the inscription. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  4. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 140 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  5. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription of Kulottunga I.: 33rd Year”, Epigraphia Indica XXII (1933–34, publ. 1938), p. 138 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  6. H. Krishna Sastri (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. IV (1923), pp. 428–429, No. 1239 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  7. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 143 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

  8. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai, “The Kalingattu Parani”, Indian Antiquary XIX (1890), p. 334 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  9. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 141 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  10. Subrahmanya Aiyer, “Draksharama Inscription”, Epigraphia Indica XXII, p. 142 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Paraphrased. ↩

Photos

References

Sources (3)
  1. N. P. Chakravarti (ed.), Epigraphia Indica, Vol. XXII (1933–34) (opens in a new tab), Manager of Publications, Delhi, 1938, pp. 138–145. K. V. Subrahmanya Aiyer, Draksharama inscription of Kulottunga I.: 33rd year (No. 23). Paraphrased. [Public domain in India]
  2. H. Krishna Sastri (ed.), South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts), Vol. IV (opens in a new tab), Government of Madras / Archaeological Survey of India, 1923, pp. 428–429. South-Indian Inscriptions (Texts) IV (1923), No. 1239. [Public domain]
  3. J. F. Fleet and R. C. Temple (eds.), The Indian Antiquary, Vol. XIX (1890) (opens in a new tab), Education Society's Press, Bombay, 1890, pp. 334. V. Kanakasabhai Pillai, 'The Kalingattu Parani' (1890). [Public domain]

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