Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c21.s2.t2.5

v2.c21.s2.t2.5

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.