The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c32.100

v1.c32.100

but still they used to sign the same grants with the solitary word 'Sri Virupaksha', the name of the guardian god of the old Empire. "The Vijayanagara throne", says Mr. Krishnamacharlu in this connection, "was still believed to be under the blessed guardianship of the wings of Virupaksha" 1. According to the *Prapannamrtam* the Emperor Virupaksha after his conversion "gave up the use of the old seal with the sign manual Virupaksha on it, and adopted a new one on which was inscribed the name 'Sri Rama'" 2. But his successors had resumed the old seal of Virupaksha. Venkata II broke this tradition for ever: Virupaksha was no longer the protector of the Empire; Vishnu had taken his place. Accordingly all the grants of Venkata bear the following signature: 'Sri Venkatesa' 3, one of the forms of Vishnu worshipped at Tirupati. The very beginning of his grants, moreover, shows more signs of the Vaishnava faith than the former grants. The Padmaneri grant, for instance, starts with an invocation to Venkatesa, the feet of Rama Vishvaksena and the Moon 4. In the Vellangudi plates the invocation is addressed to Rama's feet, Vishvaksena and Vishnu 5. The beginning of the Mangalampad grant is as follows: "I seek refuge in that pair of substances (Rama's feet), by virtue of whose touch a stone became the gem of women and which is deserving of worship by the gods" 6. Besides, almost all his grants are made in the presence of Venkatesa at Tirupati.