Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara Empire (A.D. 1346 – A.D. 1646) v2.c21.s3.t9.8

v2.c21.s3.t9.8

The *Mahāmaṇḍalēśvara* Gava Rājaya, according to an epigraph dated A. D. 1571, performed the funeral rites for his father Veṅkaṭādri Rājaya, and granted "the village of Saulaṅga to Vijēndra Voḍeyar's Maṭha of the Ānegoṇḍi Maṭha", in order that merit might accrue to his father.⁴ Granting lands for charitable purposes in order to commemorate the death of parents or of the ruler was, therefore, a feature of Vijayanagara times. And as regards performing funeral rites, we may mention that on the death of Rāma Rāya on the battle-field of Rākshasa-Taṅgaḍi, his adopted son Ali ‘Ādil Shāh, according to the author of *Rāma Rāyana Bhaikhair*, sent the bones of the great Hindu ruler to Benares.⁵