Makēntiraravāṭi, time of Mahendravarman I

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00024

Summary: A Sanskrit verse recording the foundation of the cave-temple named Mahendraviṣṇugṛha by the Guṇabhara (Mahendravarman I Pallava) around 600/625 CE.

Hand Description:

The stone engraving of Grantha script is not yet fully mastered. This inscription was engraved by a beginner or was one of the early attempts to engrave Grantha script on stone.

Additional Metadata

Alternative identifier:

Origin:

Classification:

Languages:

    Corresponding Artefact:

    Layout:

    Edition

    Nardaṭaka
    1mahitatamaṁ satām upa mahendra-(ta)ṭākam ida¡(M)!
    2sthiram uru kāritaṁ guṇabhareṇa vidāryya śil(āM)
    3ja(na)-nayanābhir(ā)ma-guṇa-dhāma mahendrapure
    4maha(t)i mahendra-viṣṇu-gṛha-nāma murār(i)-gṛha(ṁ)

    Apparatus

    1 upa ◇ u(pa) EH — 1 ida¡(M)! ◇ i(da)¡(M)!⟨ṁ⟩ EH • The final (M) is written between lines 1 and 2, below the character da.
    2 śil(āM) • The final (M) is written between lines 2 and 3, below the character l(ā).
    4 maha(t)i ◇ maha(ti) EH — 4 murār(i)-gṛha(ṁ) ◇ murā(ri)-gṛ(haṁ) EH

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis

    Translation into French by Sylvain Brocquet

    Objet des plus chauds éloges auprès des gens de bien, solide et spacieuse,
    Guṇabhara fit construire au bord de l’étang de Mahendra-taṭāka, en creusant la roche,
    En la grande cité de Mahendrapura, cette demeure de vertus qui charment les yeux des hommes :
    la maison de Murāri, nommée Mahendra-Viṣṇugṛha.

    Bibliography

    Edited and translated by Hultzsch 1896–1897, with a facsimile (EI 4, no. 19); text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 24); text and translation in Filliozat 1984: pages 104–105, in Brocquet 1997 (B no. 20), Francis 2013 (IR no. 24); re-edited here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Sylvain Brocquet & Emmanuel Francis (2020), based on autopsy and photographs (2004).

    Primary

    Hultzsch, Eugen Julius Theodor. 1896–1897. “Two Tamil Inscriptions at Ambur.” EI 4: 180–83.
    [siglum EH]
    Filliozat, Pierre-Sylvain. 1984. “Les Inscriptions Sanskrites Du Roi Pallava Mahendravarman Ier.” Bulletin des Études Indiennes 2: 99–116.
    Pages 104–105. [siglum PSF]
    Mahalingam, T. V. 1988. Inscriptions of the Pallavas. New Delhi; Delhi: Indian Council of Historical Research; Agam Prakashan.
    Page 112, № 24. [siglum IP]
    Brocquet, Sylvain. 1997. “Les inscriptions sanskrites des Pallava : poésie, rituel, idéologie.” Thèse de doctorat, Paris: Université de la Sorbonne Nouvelle.
    Pages 472–473, № 20. [siglum SB]

    Secondary

    ARIE 1895-1896. Page 9, appendix B/1896, № 13.
    ARIE 1943-1945. Page 17, appendix B/1943–1944, № 83.
    Srinivasan, K. R. 1964. Cave-Temples of the Pallavas. Architectural Survey of Temples 1. New Delhi: Archaeological Survey of India.
    Page 64.
    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 273.
    Francis, Emmanuel. 2017. Le discours royal dans l’Inde du Sud ancienne : inscriptions et monuments Pallava, IVème-IXème siècles. Tome II : Mythes dynastiques et panégyriques. Publications de l’Institut orientaliste de Louvain 64. Louvain-la-Neuve; Paris: Université catholique de Louvain, Institut orientaliste; Peeters.
    Page 512.