July - 2013 Odisha Review

Reference on Lord Purushottam in Odishan Inscriptions

Bharati Pal

Purushottama Jagannatha, the Lord of the “Who conquers as Jagatinatha ...... who appears universe, the supreme has been worshipped as ...... Who has destructed by His in various names and forms, from time to time nails the kings of the demon. with different modes of doctrines and rituals. The A stone inscription which found from literary and epigraphic sources throw considerable Maihar in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh, light on the revival of this cult. beautifully narrates the story of a boy The earliest epigraphic evidence named Damodar, who was originally a son of regarding the Lord is found from the Kalian Sarasvati and lived in the heaven. But once he Copper Plate Grant of Sridharana Rata of Bengal, defeated Bruhaspati, the preceptor of the in who flourished about second half of the 7th a disputation. He was cursed by the latter to go century A.D. to earth. On the request of his mother, Bruhaspati ordained that the boy would not live long on the The plate describes that Sridharana was earth. When the young boy would undertake a born to Bhanudevi, who was the agramahish pilgrimage to ‘Purushottama in the country of (Chief Queen) of Jivadharana, whom the charter Odisha shall thereafter take a bath in the ocean describes as Parama Vaishnava and a devout where he shall be drowned and thus come back worshipper of . to heaven. The epigraphs belongs to the 10th The next epigraphs is the Sripur Stone Century A.D. Inscription of Mahasivagupta. The inscription The Mehere plate of Damodoradeva, begins with an invocation to Purushottama. begins with invocation as “, on whose The first three verses are elevated to the awakening the world comes to manifestation, in praise of Narasimha incarnation of Vishnu and whom, while reposing, it becomes merged again construction of a temple for Hari by queen Vasata, instantaneously obeisance to that Purushottama. the mother of Mahasivagupta. The Nagpur stone inscription dated in The Gaya inscription which belongs to Vikram Samvat 1160 (1104 A.D.) records the about the 7th decade of 9th century A.D. begins military campaign of the Paramara king with an invocation to Purushottama and then Lakshmanadeva led towards Eastern . The immediately proceeds to describe and praise him. inscription describes “near the eastern ocean

89 Odisha Review July - 2013 cleaver men thus artfully proclaimed his praise, Utkaladesa in the year 1112 A.D. is found in the while he looked pleased on bashfully: ‘O’- Lord, Dasogaba copper plate grants of his grandson it was the holy Purushottama to whom fortune Rajarajadeva III, who succeeded the throne of restored who relieved this universe by subduing Orissa after the death of his father Anangabhima the enemy Bali and who supported the earth." III. The Kalidindi grant of eastern Chalukya The first verse of this epigraph refers to Rajaraja describes in the introductory verse that the Visvarupa of Vishnu says that only as born from the lotus which grows from Gangasvara could construct a suitable palace the naval of great Lord Purushottama (Temple) for a God like Purushottama, whose at Sridham. Sridham or Srikshetra is one of the feet are the earth, navel the mid region, the head names of the sacred area of . the heaven, the ears the directions and the two eyes the sun and the moon respectively. The cult of Purushottama Jagannatha took an important form with the construction of a The second verse refers the joy of temple for Lord Purushottama at the sea shore Purushottama and his consort . Till the of Puri by Anantavarman Chodagangadeva. construction of this residence (vasa) for Chodagangadeva the founder of the Ganga Purushottama, he lived in the milk ocean, since dynasty occupied Utkala and shifted his capital ocean is the birth place of Lakshmi, Purushottama from Kalinganagara to Kataka. Anantavarman felt rather ashamed living there, since a respectable like his predecessor was a great devotee of Siva person is not accented proper honour if he lives and assumed the title Parama Mahesvara. But in his father-in-law palace. He was therefore in the Korni Copper Plate grant he changed his pleased to get a new place of residence for attitude and appeared to demonstrate religious Himself and His wife Lakshmi. Lakshmi found universality by applying to himself as Parama residing independently in the house of her husband Mahesvara Parama Vaishnava and Parama much preferable to living in her fathers house and Brahmanaya. hence she became very happy. Again in the verse 17 of the Nagari Plate of Anangabhima III states Many scholars have spoken of a that Chodaganga built a temple for the God conversion of Chodaganga from Saivism to Purushottama at Puri on the sea shore of Bay and think that due to the influence of Bengal. The plate further describes that Lord of this conversion took place. It was Purushottama had been in worship at Puri for during his reign Ramanuja visited his kingdom and many years before the conquest of that region by stayed at Puri. The effect of his visit was the change Chodaganga, but that Saivite Somavamsi kings of the religious faith of Chodaganga who became who were supplanted from Utkala by the Gangas a Parama Vaishnava. had neglected the erection of a temple for the The construction of a temple for God Vaishnava . Purushottama Jagannatha of Purushottama at Puri by Chodaganga proves Puri was originally worshipped by the aboriginal his inelination towards Vaishnavism. The first Savara people in an inaccessible forest on the epigraphical record of the construction of the Nilachal and that the priest of king Indradyumna present Purushottama temple in the vicinity of of Avanti, who popularized the god, received ocean by the powerful monarch Chodaganga who information regarding the deity and his worship coming from South, and subjugated the from a Savara named Visvavasu.

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On the door jamb of the Narasimha offering and worship to the god Allaranatha while temple there is an important inscription of she was at Abhinava Kataka. The Chodaganga which records offering of a perennial inscription dated in the 19th regnal year of lamp (Akhandavartika) to Sri Purushottama Anangabhima. The epigraphs further describes by him. him as the son of Lord Purushottama and a The next important ruler after Chodaganga Parama Vaishnava who regularly observed who patronized Vaishnava cult was Anangabhima Ekadasi- and constantly meditated at the III. In many of his records he has described feet of his Lord and the grant was made by the himself as a deputy of the Lord Purushottama. command (adesa) of Lord Purushottama. In the Nagari Plate he assumed the title During the same year Anangabhima has Anangabhima-Rautta- and by assuming this consecrated a temple for Purushottama in his title he considered himself a mere deputy of the newly capital Abhinava Varanasi Kataka and God Jagannatha of Puri whom he regarded as donated land to several . It is the real Lord of the kingdom. He is the first imperial therefore quite logical that in one of his last Ganga monarch who so far known to have assumed the subordinate title Rautta and claimed inscriptions dated 1238 A.D. he declared his theoretically at least to have been a feudatory of regnal year or Anka as the regnal year of Lord the God Purushottama-Jagannatha. Purushottama. The sources leave no doubt that Anangabhima acknowledged Jagannatha as the In the Draksharama temple inscription he overlord of Orissa and remained his deputy. stated himself as Parama Vaishnava and Parama Mahesvara as well as Purushottama Putra, According to the temple chronicle, king Putra and Putra. In this context Anangabhima has been renounced his royal we think that the formation of a Jagannatha Triad consecration (abhiseka) because he considered by Anangabhima during his early years proves his himself only as the deputy of Purushottama ritual relationship with the three dominant Jagannatha. of Odisha. Purushottama at Puri, Lingaraj Siva The next ruler Narasimha-I, the son and at Bhubaneswar and Viraja at Jajpur. successor of Anangabhima III, followed the It was only under the king Anangabhima deputy ideology of his father, and like him he also Deva that the God Purushottama at Puri became declared himself a son and deputy of official state deity of the Ganga empire. In the Purushottama, the Lord of the universe. In one of Bhubaneswar inscription which is dated 1230 his inscriptions at Kapilas he stated that the king A.D., he has been declared as a son and deputy succeeded in subduing his enemies in numerous of Lord Purushottama and similarly pronounced battles at the command of the God his dominions as Purushottama Samrajya and he Purushottama. The God is none other than Lord was the servant of the God Purushottama. Purushottama , Who is worshipped In the same year his wife Somaladevi in the temple of Puri. Further the epigraph made an valuable donation to the God Vishnu describes Narasimha as Paramavaishnava and Allaranatha at . The inscription Parama Mahesvara as well as Purusottama records the gift of the village named Udaiya Putra, who built a temple for Lord Siva at Kapilas Kamam in Antarudra vishaya by Somaladevi for hill.

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But it is not surprising in view of the fact the God Purushottama Jagannatha of Puri, that his father Anangabhima himself is also called who is regarded as a form of Vishnu, and that both Parama Vaishnava and Parama the Ganga king’s successor as well as the later Mahesvara as well as Purushottama Putra, imperial ruler of Orissa including their theoretical Rudra Putra and Durga Putra in one of his successors, the present Maharaja of Puri regarded inscriptions in the Siva temple at Draksharama . themselves as the viceroy of the deity Who was The next important ruler of the Ganga considered the real Lord of the country. This dynasty who considered himself as the mere conception is noticed in several inscriptions of the deputy of Lord Purushottama was Bhanudeva. Ganga dynasty. The present epigraph is the only In his Puri inscription he called himself as record out side the Ganga family which echoes Bhanudeva Rautta and declared his own regnal the same idea. There is however a slight difference year as the prosperous and victorious reign of Sri in the conception as found in the inscription under Purushottamadeva. He considered himself as a review. The idea expressed in our record is that deputy of the God in matter of ruling the Ganga the God was the Lord of the earth while dominion. Kapilesvara endowed with imperial style was the king of the Utkala country under him. This mode The Gangas were followed by the of introducing a king is possibly the only case of Suryavamsi Gajapatis. Under the able leadership the kind in the whole range of Indian Epigraphy. of Kapilendra this dynasty emerged a very strong political force in Orissa. Purushottama Further the inscription states that •Jagannatha became their tutelary deity, which Kapilesvara assumed the title as Mahesvara- gleaned from numerous inscriptions. Kapilendra Putra, Purushottama-Putra and Durga-Putra. went even a step further and allowed his courtiers The above passage is copied from the records and priests to call him an elected of Jagannatha. lies in the Draksharama, Bhubaneswar and The Warangal inscription of Raghudeva describes Kanchipuram inscription of Anangabhima III and Kapilendra became a Lord of Utkala at the one of the Kapilas inscription of Narasimha I of command of Purushottama, the Lord of the Ganga. In the similar representation of fourteen worlds. Anangabhima III and his son Narasimha-I , one may notice the fact that these kings inspite of their The Madala Panji, the temple chronicle staunch devotion to the God Vishnu in the shape relates that Lord Jagannatha had ordered the last of Purushottama-Jagannatha of Puri, could not Ganga Bhanudeva IV in a dream to nominate possibly dissociate themselves totally from the Kapilendra as his successor. Saiva leanings of their ancestors, since however The Warangal inscription describes in the the hold of Vaishnavism became gradually first line the God Vishnu as the imperial ruler of stronger and stronger on the kings of Orissa. It is the earth and apparently as the overlord of the rather strange that the same epithets were applied emperor Kapilesvara of Suryavamsi Gajapati to Kapilesvara who flourished two centuries later. family of Orissa. The date of the record has been He was the first of its members who was devoted put against the background of eternity as it is to the God Purushottama - Jagannatha. represented as falling in the eternal reign period of the said god. This is because of the fact as it is presumed from the Ganga inscription that Bharati Pal, Epigraphist, Odisha State Museum, Anagabhima dedicated his kingdom in favour of Bhubaneswar.

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