An inscription of 1161 A.D. that gives details of the temple’s construction and donations made to the temple, installed at Sri Parshwanath Basadi, Sringeri, Chikamaglur, District, Karnataka, India.
Location – Inscription kept in the Navaranga of Parshwanath Basadi, Sringeri, chikmagalur District, Karnataka, India.
Period – Saka Year 1088, Vikrama Samvatsara, Kumbha (Masa), Shuddha Dashami Thursday. This coresponds to 7th February 1161 A.D.
Type of Inscription – Temple construction and donation inscription.
Inscription’s Structure – The inscription has 4 steps,
- 1st step has a carving of a Tirthankar in Paryankasana flanked by Chouri bearers, Sun and Moon
- 2nd step has 2 lines of inscription
- 3rd step has the carving of a Shravaka flanked by Chouri bearers
- 4th step has the inscriptional text
- Above the 1st step along the arch is also seen some inscriptional text
Highlights of the Inscription –
- Gives details of the temple’s construction and the family tree of the person in whose memory the temple was constructed.
- Gives details of the donations made for the temple.
Details of the Inscription
The inscription starts with Jinastuthi – Jaina hymn “Srimad Parama Gambira Syadvadamogha Lanchanam, Jiya Trailokyanathasya Shasanam Jina Shasanam“, which praises the Jinashasana.
It gives us details of the construction of the temple, donations made and concludes with a curse.
Details of Temple’s Construction – Nidugodi’s Vijayanayana Shanthisetti’s son was Basisetty, his elder sister was Siriyajji Settithi. Siriyajji Settithi daughter was Nagave Settithi, Nagave Settithi’s daughter was Siriyale Settithi. Siriyale Settithi and Hemmadi Setty’s son was Marisetti. This temple has been constructed in memory of Marisetti.
Since the inscription is slightly worn out details of land grants and tax details are not available.
Donations to the Temple – It further mentions details of donations given to the temple – on the banks of the river 1 Khanduga (a land measure of 64,000 square yards of dry and 10,000 square yards of wetland) soil, 6 Khandugas land at Sulligodu, amount, a woman servant, a huge chunk of salt and Turmeric were donated to the temple.
Curse – The inscription concludes with a Shapashaya i.e. a curse, it states that a person failing to comply to this is eqvivalent to killing 1000 people.
References
- ECXI(R) Sg.2
- MAR 1933 No.3
- Karnataka Jaina Shasanagalu – Samputa 2, Pg. 456-457, Editor: Dr. DevarakondaReddy