Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c9.s2.12

c9.s2.12

6. **Inscriptions recording the dedication of statues, temple utensils, vessels, bells, lamps, etc.** These are to be found in all temples; but as there is hardly a single S. Indian temple that has not been pillaged more than once, very few of these inscriptions are of any remote period, and they are nearly always records of gifts by strangers, even from N. India[^2). The dedication of statues was a common practice of the Buddhists; that the Hindus did so has been doubted, but without reason. Hemādri mentions the practice, and instances occur still earlier in the Tanjore inscriptions. Such statues were, commonly, of copper or stone, sometimes of gold[^3), and represented not only forms of the god as worshipped in the temple where they were dedicated, but also of eminent saints and devotees. In Vaishṇava temples, representations of the ‘cakra’ were commonly dedicated. It has also been always a common practice to dedicate silver, or even gold representations of the ‘vāhana’ or animal on which the god is supposed to ride. In S. India many worthless objects are often dedicated in temples; such, *e. g.*, are the earthen pots (which serve to shade lamps from the wind) at Tirukkaḷukuṉṟam; most of these bear the donor’s name. So again, the pottery figures of horses which are seen