The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c17.10

v1.c17.10

It appears certain from these extracts that the Queen was not present at the ceremony of coronation, being probably still in the palace of Tremil, as a place safer from the Muhammadan incursions. Both the Tumkur and Budihala copperplates say that Tirumala's Queen was named Channadevi or Channamadevi ³; but many other grants give the name of Vengalamba or Vengalambika, as the one belonging to the wife of Tirumala ⁴. Probably Vengalambika had been Tirumala's first wife, since she is declared to be the mother of his four sons ⁵; but it is not improbable that he should have lost her by his ninetieth year; on that supposition, Channamadevi was the second wife who sat beside him on the throne of Vijayanagara. A Telugu poem of Bhattu Murti, a poet at his court, speaks of Tirumala and his Queen sitting together, and compares them to the god Siva, and Tirumala himself to Sukracharya, the preceptor of the Asuras. The propriety of this comparison lies in the fact that "Siva is described in one of his forms as half man and half woman, and as having three eyes, the ordinary two and 'the eye of wisdom'. When Tirumala and his wife sat side by side they had only three eyes between them (Tirumala having lost one in the battle of Raksas-Tagdi). Sukracharya, the preceptor of the demons, is said to have only one eye, the other having been blinded by the god Vishnu when he took the form of a dwarf. Both Siva and Sukracharya are considered by Sanskrit writers to be omniscient, and are termed Sarvagna (all-knowing)"¹. The flattery of the poet is as delicate as it is acute.