History of Orissa from the Earliest Times to the British Period v1.c17.26

v1.c17.26

The discovery of M. Sylvain Levi leaves no doubt about the fact that the first group of Kara kings bore the title of Keśarī. The inscriptions of the second group of Kara kings prove that one of their ancestors was called Unmaṭṭakeśarī, but the title is not applied to any king of the second group. We do not know whether these later Kara kings had other birudas or not, but kings with the name Keśarī are to be met with in some inscriptions of Orissa and records of other countries. At least three inscriptions are known of a king named Uddyotakeśarī. The earliest inscription of the reign of this prince was discovered in a ruined cave assigned to the mythical Lalāṭendukeśarī of the native tradition of Orissa, on Khaṇḍagiri, three miles from Bhuvaneśvara in the Puri district. According to this inscription in the 5th year of the reign of Uddyotakeśarī the old temples and well on the Kumāra hill were repaired.¹