Mangalagiri

The Imperial Gazetteer of 1908 describes Mangalagiri, “Hill of happiness”, as a town of 7,702 people in the Guntur taluk.¹ “Some distance up the hill after which it is named is a rock-cut platform with a temple of Narasimhaswami”.¹ Thousands of Hindus flock there “during the annual festival held at the full moon in March”.¹

“In the town is a large deep reservoir, built square with stone steps.”¹ Local legends used to say that it had no bottom and had a golden temple at the bottom.¹ But “in the great famine of 1833 it dried up”.¹ “In it were found nearly 10,000 old matchlocks, thrown there, doubtless, during one of the many wars which have swept over this part of the country.”¹

The pillar of 1515

In 1901 H. Luders edited an inscription “engraved on the four faces of a pillar”.² The pillar was “lying on the ground near the steps leading to the temple on the hill at Mangalagiri, 12 miles north-east of Guntur”.² It records that Saluva Timma, the minister of Krishnadeva Raya, captured Kondavidu from the Gajapati’s governors on 23 June 1515.³ It also records the gifts of his nephews Nadindla Appa and Gopa.³

Among these gifts, in Saka 1438 (1516–17; Saka is an Indian way of counting years), Appa presented “a solid temple (prasada), adorned with nine golden pinnacles (kumbha)”.⁴ He gave it with “a beautiful large hall (mantapa) to the temple of Hari, the lord of Mangalasaila”.⁴ He “gave also the village of Mangalasaila to the temple of Nrisimha”.⁴ Luders added: “Mangalasaila is, of course, identical with Mangalagiri, where the inscription was found.”⁴

A second pillar with almost the same text stands at Kaza, 9 miles north-east of Guntur.⁵ See the Mangalagiri pillar inscription, Saluva Timma and Kondavidu.

Footnotes

1. Imperial Gazetteer of India: Madras, Vol. I (1908), p. 337 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

2. H. Luders, “Two Pillar Inscriptions of the time of Krishnaraya of Vijayanagara”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 108 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

3. Luders, “Two Pillar Inscriptions”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 111 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩²

4. Luders, “Two Pillar Inscriptions”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 115 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

5. Luders, “Two Pillar Inscriptions”, Epigraphia Indica VI (1900–01), p. 116 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩