The Aravidu Dynasty of Vijayanagara, Vol. I v1.c9.133

v1.c9.133

But the majority of these religious grants, although made on behalf of Sadasiva, were probably ordered by Rama Raya. We read for instance that the old temple of Bhairava in Nallacheruvupalle was enlarged and beautified by Sadasiva in 1544²; that he exempted the god Gopalakrishna from tax³; that he made a grant of a village to the temple of Markapur in the very year of his accession⁴; that 'the village of Pudur was given to the god Sachchidananda'⁵, while three other villages, including Pulupatum in Pottapinadu and some land in Vontimitta, were granted to the Kodandaramaswami temple of the same place ¹, and a grant of many villages was made to the Krishnapuram temples for the worship of Vishnu ². The village of Kagallu, surnamed Timmasamudra, Hindupur Taluk, was likewise given to the temple of Mallikarjuna ³; and that of Kosanepalle, Jammalamadugu Taluk, to the Chernuri-sima for the festival of Tiruvengalanatha ⁴; and the one of Puliyangulam to the goddess of Srivilliputtur, Ramnad ⁵; then the pagoda of Durga at Koduru was allowed to levy contributions from the pilgrims towards the annual festival of the deity ⁶. Finally Aliya Rama Raya granted the village of Gadigarelu to the gods Siddhesvara and Bhojesvara ⁷ and made some grants for festivals ⁸. Of the same Rama Raya is the following edict, by which he provides a good income in perpetuity for the festivals of Sri Ranganatha's temple: "The income which is derived from sundry articles in the villages situated in Udayagiri durgam, which belong to us and were formerly attached to the temple of Sri Raghunayakulu, should be utilised for always providing daily offerings, worship with lights and miscellaneous offerings in the temple. While speaking these pleasant words, we have presented, on the auspicious occasion of a solar eclipse, with libation of water and gift of gold, this endowment to the accountant in the temple of the deity, to last as long as the sun and moon endure" ⁹.