Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c21.s2.t2: B. Coronation
Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c21.s2.t2
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B. Coronation
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While dealing with the question of etiquette in the royal palace, mention may be made of some details in connection with coronation. The people of Vijayanagara have given us ample evidence of their having been under the influence of classical and mediaeval theories; and it is not too much to suppose that they must have followed the ancient rules as laid down in the *dharma śāstras*, while performing the coronation ceremonies. "The *abhiṣēka* as detailed in the *Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa* begins with seven *mantras* to be uttered by the priest performing a *homa* before the ritual of sprinkling takes place. The first *mantra* speaks of the prince's rebirth as the son of *ritviks* (sacrificial priests) with his vigour immensely increased by his symbolic entrance into the *homa* fire and exit therefrom, and wishes him capability to keep his subjects from sinful ways. The second wishes him an extended kingdom, a stout physique for its efficient administration, and a good supply of cattle for the performance of the sacrifices. The third wishes him to be the guide of men, and wants him to solemnly say that he would protect the good and punish the wicked. The fourth and the fifth invoke blessing on him for prosperity, while the sixth and seventh for the glorification of the castes by his power, the prosperity of his subjects, and the extension of Prajāpati's protection to him".¹
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¹ Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, p. 157. In a note on the flambeaus which lighted up the avenue, Taylor rightly says that that ceremony called the *divați-salām* or *divați-vandanam* or *divați-koluttu* is "said to have been never omitted, unless the king were sick; and then not to have made the *Divaṭi-salām* was the same thing as to announce the king's illness.. two or more persons perform various evolutions of double torches in approaching towards the king; they then make their obeisance, in which all others present join". *Ibid.*
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² *Ibid.*, II, pp. 36-7.
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¹ Narendranath Law, *I. A.*, XLVIII, p. 84. Dr. Narendranath Law describes the *abhiṣēka* ceremony in detail in this article. *Ibid.*, p. 84 seq. Cf. Edgerton, *Vikrama's Adventures*, Vols. 26, 27, Section VIII, pp. 48-9. For decorum in the room where the throne is kept, see *Sukranīti*, I, II. 709-27. p. 48.
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The ideas of protecting the subjects, of maintaining the *varṇāśrama dharma*, and of upholding the virtuous and punishing the wicked,—which, as remarked in another column, are clearly given in epigraphs of all the rulers and in the writings of Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya—are to be traced to the promise which the rulers made on the occasion of their anointment ceremony. It is not the conformity of Vijayanagara theory to classical precept in regard to this question that concerns us so much as the features which came to be associated with coronation in Vijayanagara. But, as in other matters, the mediaeval rulers herein only followed the ancient usage of the land. The ceremony was most often held in a famous temple, in the presence of the great lords and learned men of the court. It was generally commemorated by granting lands and endowments to scholars and pious men. Except in one instance, it was performed by the *rāja-guru* or royal priest. And there is every reason to believe that, at least in the case of one or two monarchs, the ceremony was conducted twice obviously at different places.
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Before we enumerate these details, it may be interesting to recall the observations made by Nuniz on what the kings of Vijayanagara did before their coronation. While dealing with Vidyāraṇya and the founders of Vijayanagara, Nuniz says: "And after that hermit was dead the King raised a very grand temple in honour of him and gave much revenue to it. And ever since, in his memory, the Kings of Bisnaga, on the day when they are raised to be kings, have, in honour of the hermit, to enter this house before they enter their own; and they offer many prayers in it, and celebrate many feasts there every year."¹ Nuniz here evidently has confounded a shrine which may have been built in memory of Vidyāraṇya with the temple of Virūpāksha at Hampe, which, we may be permitted to repeat, was certainly not built in honour of that sage.
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¹ Sewell, For. Emp., p. 300, and ibid, n. (2). ² Hultzsch, Ep. Ind., I, pp. 363, 370. Dr. Hultzsch thus remarks on the date of the inscription given on the same page: "According to the tables, the Śukla-saṃvatsara corresponds to Śaka 1482 (A. D. 1509-10)", ibid., p. 363, n. (10). Cf. Ballāḷa II, granting the village of Iḷamarudur in Paḍi-nāḍu-sīme to the Kirtinārāyaṇa temple on the day of his coronation in A. D. 1270. My. Arch. Report for 1911-12, p. 44.
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The temple of Virūpāksha, however, was the place where the anointment ceremony of the kings of Vijayanagara took place. Thus an inscription dated Śaka 1430 expired, Śukla saṃvatsara Māgha Śu. 14, contains the following about Kṛṣṇa Dēva Rāya the Great: "...the illustrious Vira Kṛṣṇa-rāya Mahārāya, at the auspicious time of the festival of his coronation (paṭṭābhiṣhēka), for (providing) daily oblations of food (amṛta-paḍi-naivēdya), to the holy Virūpāksha-dēva(i.e., of Paṃpā)" granted to the temple the village of Siṅganāyakanahaḷḷi.² The fact of the coronation ceremony having been conducted in the presence of the god Virūpāksha, though not specifically stated in the above epigraph, is gathered from the records of his successors, some of whom were also crowned in the other famous temples of the Empire. Achyuta Dēva Rāya was crowned in Śaka 1452 (A. D. 1530-1) in the temple of Kāḷahasti, and on this occasion the king remitted the customs duties on the imports and exports at several seaports¹. This ruler seems to have been crowned twice—once at the place mentioned above, and again at Vijayanagara. This is inferred from Rājanātha's *Achutarāyābhyudayam* in which it is said :
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¹ *A. S. R.* for 1923-4, p. 94.
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प्रणामशीलः फणिशैलशासितुः कदाचिदग्रे करशंखवारिणा ।
पयोधिकाञ्ची परिणेतृतास्पदे पदेऽभिषिक्तस्सरंपरागते ॥
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Then again Rājanāth says :
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कृताभिषेकः कृपया पुरा हरेः स एष साम्राज्यपदेऽभ्यषिध्यत ।
क्षयाम्बुलेशव्यपदेशतो मही तदाजनि स्विन्नतनुस्तदादरात् ॥²
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² Rājanātha, *Achutarāyābhyudayam*, Canto III, vv. 23, 36, pp. 65, 71. (1907). See also Venkoba Rao, *Vyāsayōgicharitam*, Intr., p. cvi; *The Sources*, p. 161. S. N. Śāstri translates the verses in question thus; "Once upon a time the devotee of Vishnu was anointed by Him with the waters poured from the conch in his hand, in the place of the husband of the earth which is passing from generation to generation." "This Achutarāya who had been previously anointed by Vishnu through grace, was anointed in the place of a universal sovereign; at that time the earth through affection for him, became covered with perspiration under the pretext (of?) the drops of coronation water scattered all round." S. N. Sastri, *Achutarāyābhyudayam*, pp. 20, 22. (1908). Heras, *Aravidu*, p. 15, where it is said that Achyuta Rāya's coronation took place at Tirupati. This is a groundless assumption. B. A. S.
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The late Mr. B. Veṅkōba Rao suggested that Sāḷuva Nṛisimha was also crowned twice.³ On these occasions the great nobles and the royal priest were present. The coronation of Kṛishṇa Dēva Rāya the Great was graced by the presence of the charming Āraviṭi Bukka Rāja, the famous scions of the family of Aukuvāru, the heroic Nandyālavāru, the warlike Velugōṭivāru, Pemmasānivāru, Būdihālivāru, Rēvalavāru, and other great lords who attended the king night and day with their enormous forces of men, horses and elephants.⁴
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³ Venkoba Rao, ibid.
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⁴ *A. S. R.* for 1908-9, p. 185. Sastry includes chariots among the forces. He has also identified the nobles mentioned above. *Ibid.*, n. (2).
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We may digress a little in order to form an idea of the coronation scene at the court of Vijayanagara. Rājanātha, in his well known work mentioned above, gives us an admirable picture of the coronation of Achyuta Rāya, when, so we are told, the queen Varadāmbikā was also anointed to the throne. Thus does Rājanātha relate :
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समश्चितं कञ्चुकिनां जयारवैः सहाप्तराजन्यजनेन केनचित् ।
अलंकृतं साङ्ग इवाङ्गज्ञः शनैरसावयासीत् अभिषेक मण्डपम् ॥
अनादि नान्दीभिः अनर्दि मदलैः अराणि वीणाभिः अभाणि वेणुभिः ।
अरेभि भेरीभिः अगर्जि जर्झरैः अगारि शृङ्गैः समकालि काहलैः ॥
अपाङ्कितप्रेङ्खदभीशुवीचिकाकृतावलम्बैरिव गन्धवारिभिः ।
करान्जसौवर्णघटापवर्जितैः तम् अभ्यषिञ्चत् तरलेक्षणाजनः ॥
कृताभिषेकः तुलुवक्षितिक्षितीं कुलामणीः कुङ्कुमवारिधारया ।
करीव सिक्को गिरिधातुनिर्झरैः शशी इव सायन्तनसन्ध्यया अरुचत् ॥
अलोकिक लोकैः हरिचन्दनोदकं विजृम्भितं मण्डपवेदिकाङ्गणे ।
निरीक्ष्य कान्तं नृपम् आशयात् अमन् भुवोऽनुरागो बहिरुधतो यथा ॥
अधारयत् पाण्डरम् अम्बरं क्षितेः अधीश्वरः स्नानविधेः अनन्तरम् ।
समाप्तवर्षझपनो यथा गिरिः शरन्मुखे छन्नितम्बम् अम्बुदम् ॥
समाप्य सर्वां समनन्तरक्रियां नृपासनस्थो नृपतिः निरैक्षयत ।
सुमेरुसङ्गी इव सुरेन्द्रपादपः श्रियः सखेव श्रितभानुमण्डलः ॥
प्रचालितोऽग्रे परिचारिकाजनैः नृपस्य नीराजनदीपिकोत्करः ।
दिगन्तरभ्रान्तिमिवात् नटिष्यतो दधौ प्रतापस्य स पूर्व रङ्गताम् ॥
अरालकेशीभिः अनाटि मेदिनीस्वयं वरप्रेयसि शोभिते श्रिया ।
बलाहके दर्शितवार्षिकोदये न किं शिखिन्यो नटनं विवृतते ॥
विनीतसामन्तविधूतचामरद्वयान्वितोऽलक्ष्यत धूर्वहः क्षितेः ।
तुषारशैले दृपदाहतिद्विधापनीपतत् नाकधुनीपया इव ॥
अनुक्रमो रक्षति तत्कुलक्षमापतीन् इतीव अनुजिघृक्षया गतौ ।
तमीशसूर्यौ इव धारिते किमपि अराजताम् आतपवारणे विभोः ॥
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कलिङ्गभूमेः कमिता कलाचिकां मणीनिबद्धां मगधोऽस्य पादुकाम् ।
शकाधिपः चामरमञ्जरीम् अधात् स्वयं कृपाणीमपि सिंहलेश्वरः ॥
क्षमाभुजः काञ्चनपुष्पम् अग्रतः प्रकीर्य भक्त्या प्रतिपादितोपदाः ।
व्यनंसिषुर्वंशमणिं विधोस्त्वराविघट्टितान्योन्यकिरीटकोटयः ॥
महत्तरे मानवलोकशासितुः मनोऽनुकूला महिषीपदे तदा ।
कृताभिषेका सलगक्षितिशितुः वरात्मजा आसीत् वरदाम्बिकावधूः ॥
चकार यत् मेरुम् अनादिमः पुमान् सुवर्णरूपं सुरसंसदां वशे ।
सुवर्णमेरुं स्वयम् अस्य सेवको महीसुरेभ्योऽदित मानवेश्वरः ॥
अनेन राजा चिनवेङ्कटादिरपि अयोजि लक्ष्मीं युवराजपूर्विकां ।
क्षमापतौ राज्यरमा सयौवनक्रमा च कौमारम् असौ असूचयत् ॥¹
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¹ Rājanātha, *Achyutarāyābhudayam*, Canto, III, vv. 34-5, 37-50, pp. 70-9. (1907); S. N. Sastri, *Achyutarāyābhudayam*, pp. 21-4.
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The most prominent person on such occasions was the *rāja-guru* or royal-priest. That he conducted the ceremony is evident from inscriptions and literature. We are told that Veṅkaṭapati Dēva Rāya was anointed to the throne by Tātācārya, "the *guru* of his own *gōtra*, and other chief-Brahmans", in a copper-plate grant dated A. D. 1587.² This is repeated in another copper-plate grant dated A. D. 1589,³ and again in A. D. 1602-3.⁴
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² *E. C.*, VII, Sh. 83, p. 32.
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³ *E. C.*, XII, Ck. 39, p. 85.
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⁴ Butterworth-Chetty, *Nellore Ins.*, I, p. 31, Read Dikshitar J. Bhand. *Or. R. Ins.*, IX, Pts. II-IV, p. 338, for some remarks in this connection.
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In one instance the Vijayanagara emperor was anointed to the throne by a great noble and not by the royal priest. This is proved by a copper-plate grant dated A. D. 1545 which contains the following: "Then Sadāśiva Mahārāya, son of Timmāmbā and Raṅgakshitīndra, was anointed to the throne by Rāma, the ruler of the great Karṇāṭaka kingdom and husband of his (Sadāśiva's) sister, and by the chief ministers."⁵
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⁵ *E. C.*, IV, Ng. 58, p. 128; *E. C.*, V, p. I, Hn. 7, p. 5; *E. C.*, IX, Cp. 186, p. 170. Cf. Heras, *Aravidu*, p. 15.
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In the history of the provincial governors, too, there is a similar instance of a violation of the classical principles concerning the dignitary who was to perform the coronation ceremony. The *paṭṭābhiṣēka* of Viśvanātha Nāyaka was performed by the Pāṇḍya king Chandraśēkhara.¹
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¹ Taylor, O. H. MSS., II, pp. 109, 117; Heras, Aravidu, p. 128.
Linked texts (3)
- Taittirīyabrāhmaṇa — Sanskrit
- Kirtinarayana Temple
- Acyutarāyābhyudaya — Rājanātha Diṇḍima 1530, Sanskrit