Mediaeval Temples of the Dakhan c7.s1.17

c7.s1.17

It remains to notice the inscription. This, as already stated, is inscribed upon a beam above, and inside, the north doorway of the hall. It tells us that in *Saka Samvat* 982 (A.D. 1060), during the reign of the illustrious *Mahāmaṇḍaleśvara* Māṃvanirājadeva, and while certain ministers of his, who are mentioned by name, were in power, the temple of Śrī Amranātha was built, or rebuilt, (the text is not very clear). Built or rebuilt matters little, for the rebuilding, if there had been any, would simply mean the erection of the present temple, in the place of an older one, which was possibly in brick and thatch. There has been a difference of opinion as to the first figure in the date. It is an unusual form and somewhat like a 7, which some scholars thought it was, while others considered it a 9. The style of the temple, when compared with others elsewhere. is undoubtedly of the 11th century A. D. and certainly not of the 8th, and there is no reason to suppose the inscription refers to an older temple or has been brought from anywhere else. The beam, on which it is, is an integral part of the temple, and fits its place as accurately as any other in the temple. There is not a vestige of sculptured stonework of a 8th century or earlier building; the few sculptured fragments found built into the masonry of the present temple, in other than their proper positions, are nothing more than spoilt and rejected blocks used up as "filling-in." We frequently find the same in other temples. This identical form for 9 has been found on a set of Śilāhāra copper plates, found at Thāṇa by Mr. K. B. Pāthak, in which the date 1049 is expressed in words as well as numerals, thus removing all doubt about it.