The Colas c36.102

c36.102

Fig. 83. Seal on Karandai copper-plate grant of Rājēndra Cōḷa I. The tiger, the Cōḷa emblem, with gaping mouth, is seated on its haunches, with its tail brought forward. It faces proper right. A pair of fish, the Pāṇḍyan emblem, is seen in front of the tiger. At the end on proper right are a lamp stand, a standard and a stand. At the opposite end, behind the tiger, are seen a lamp stand, a standard, a dagger in scabbard, and an *aṅkuśa*. All these are shown on a thick straight line. Below the tiger are seen a boar with head lowered and a *svastika* sign. In front of the boar is a low chair probably representing a *simhāsana* and beyond it is a drum. Except the boar, the other symbols indicate auspiciousness. The boar shown just below the tiger, when taken together with *aṅkuśa* above, suggests the subjection of the Cāḷukyas whose emblems they are. There is a five-petalled lotus shown lowest in the field. Above the tiger and fish is a pair of *cāmaras* flanking an umbrella, the emblem of royalty, worked like a lotus in blossom in its upper part. These figures are enclosed within a circle. Along the periphery of the seal is a legend in Grantha characters which reads: