Mahābalipuram Shore temple, capital inscription

Metadata

Current Version:  draft, 2024-04-22Z

Editor:   Emmanuel Francis.

DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00382

Summary: A list of 4 birudas on a capital stone found lying around the Shore temple.

Hand Description:

This is a biscript inscription. The honorific śrī is written in Siddhamātṛkā, while the rest of the inscription is in Grantha. The double daṇḍa is of the type where both daṇḍas are joined.


Additional Metadata

Alternative identifier:

Origin:

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Languages:

    Corresponding Artefact:

    Layout:

    Edition

    1śrī-rāja-siṁhaḥ | śrī-kṣatra-siṁhaḥ | śrī-na□3□rendra-siṁhaḥ | śrī-maheśvara□-cūḷāmaṇiḥ

    Apparatus

    1 śrī-na□3□rendrasiṁhaḥśrī-narendrasiṁhaḥ ML • The surface defect seems the best explanation for the space left blank. The image in Lockwood (p. 265) is misleading as it does not represent the blank space between na and re.1 śrī-maheśvara- □ cūḷāmaṇiḥśrī-maheśvara- _ cūḷāmaṇiḥ ML • The surface defect seems again the best explanation for the space left blank. The restoration candra suggested by Lockwood is unwarranted, the more so as another blank space interrupts another biruda.

    Translation by Emmanuel Francis

    The glorious lion among kings.

    The glorious lion of the warrior order (kṣatra).

    The glorious lion among kings.

    The glorious one whose diadem is Maheśvara (Śiva).

    Translation into French by Emmanuel Francis

    Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.

    Le glorieux lion de la classe guerrière (kṣatra).

    Le glorieux lion d’entre les rois.

    Le glorieux dont le diadème est Maheśvara (Śiva).

    Commentary

    Rājasiṁha is the favourite biruda of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava. The three other birudas are attested in other inscriptions: Kṣatrasiṁha in INSPallava00068 and INSPallava00380; Narendrasiṁha in INSPallava00060, INSPallava00068, and INSPallava00380; Maheśvaracūḷāmaṇi in INSPallava00064.

    Other birudas of of Narasiṁhavarman II Pallava are synonymous with Maheśvaracūḷāmaṇi: Śivacūḷāmaṇi, Candrārdhaśekharaśikhāmaṇi, and Maheśvaraśikhāmaṇi.

    Bibliography

    Reported in ARIE 1993-1994; reported again in ARIE 1995-1996; re-edited and translated here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2020), from autopsy and photos (2004).

    Primary

    ARIE 1993-1994. Pages 3, 40, appendix B/1993–1994, № 217. [siglum ARIE1993-1994]
    ARIE 1995-1996. Pages 5, 37, appendix B/1995–1996, № 32. [siglum ARIE1995-1996]

    Secondary

    Lockwood, Michael & A. Vishnu Bhat. 1999. “Shore Temple: South-Side Capital Inscription.” JESI 25: 20–25.
    [siglum ML+al]
    Lockwood, Michael, Vishnu Bhat A, Gift Siromoney & Dayanandan P. 2001. Pallava Art. Madras, Tambaram: Tambaram Research Associates.
    Pages 263–265. [siglum ML]
    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 281, № IR 42.