History of India, c. 150 A.D. to 350 A.D.: Naga–Vakataka Imperial Period c19.5

c19.5

A flashlight photograph was taken after filling the lettering with French chalk, but as I could not fully follow the forms of the letters in darkness, the third letter was not fully filled in and its left-hand loop incision (which has come out in the impression²) was missed. There is a flaw in the stone to the right of the third letter which gives a false impression of there being a letter. It is produced by a higher level of the surface. The last two letters were completely missed by me on the stone in the darkness; but they have come out in the impression. I give a photograph of the whole stone to show its shape. The stone is painted white by the villagers and a few letters in white paint are written above the inscribed portion. It is now called Maṅgalanātha (Śiva).