Mysore and Coorg from the Inscriptions c11.7

c11.7

The instances of the Garuḍa warriors under the Hoysala kings have already been mentioned above (p. 104). They were life guards, who took upon themselves a vow to live and die with the king, and at his decease committed suicide. This was done in a wholesale manner, the chiefs in Kp 9, 10 being joined in despatching themselves by their wives and servants, male and female. With the prince Lakshma, too (Bl 112), his whole battalion of a thousand men slaughtered themselves. In the former case the act is described as embracing Garuḍa (the kite which is the bird of Vishnu) on the head of an elephant. One chief is said thus to have embraced Garuḍa six times, and another, to have confronted Garuḍa, shaken and embraced him. What took place is not clear, but it may be conjectured that they killed themselves when seated in state on an elephant, and the bodies remained to be devoured (as on Parsi towers of silence) by kites and vultures, which would be immediately attracted to the spot. The final acts attributed to the chiefs no doubt refer to their death struggles. In the case of the prince Lakshma, he is said to have mounted, with his wife, on the pillar which was to be their monument, and thus become united with Garuḍa.