In search of the lost inscriptions of Sankenhalli

While reading a speech that T Ananda Row, then Dewan of Mysore, delivered on October 15, 1910, I learnt that some of the most interesting inscriptions are found on the old Viragals (Viragallu) dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries, found at Hirigundagal and Sankenhalli in Tumkur (now Tumakuru) taluk. These inscriptions provide valuable historical information and were described as “new inscriptions” as they were not mentioned in Epigraphia Carnatica (EC) Vol12 (1904).

Curious, I searched for the text of these inscriptions in EC16 (1955) and EC24 (2009) but found no mention of 8th or 9th century inscriptions at Sankenhalli. I wondered if these inscriptions were lost after their initial discovery in 1910.

Determined, I set out to explore Sankenhalli village but could not find it in the list of villages under Tumakuru taluk. Upon alighting at Tumakuru bus stand, I inquired locally and was told it is near Urdigere village. Boarding a private bus via Kyathasandra, I reached Urdigere, where an elderly resident directed me to go beyond Eleramapura village. On the way, near Renukeshwara temple, it began to rain and darkness was falling. Still, I kept walking towards Sankenhalli. A gentleman on the road recalled seeing two large stone slabs and pointed me toward a nearby grove. I reached the spot in the dark and found a pair of massive hero stones.

I knew I needed to revisit. This time, my young friend Anupam Baidya accompanied me. Although we reached Sankenhalli, I could not recall the exact location of the stones. When I inquired, an elderly lady told a young boy to show me the ruins of a small mantapa, which had once housed a Viragal. I recognised immediately that it was not the Viragal I had seen earlier.

Following the young boy, who was aided by a villager named Raju, we found a pit with a few broken pillars scattered among weeds and shrubs. As I cleared the vegetation, the edge of a stone slab became visible. Carefully removing the mud, the face of a hero slowly emerged. The 3 X 5 feet slab featured a beautiful carving of a hero on horseback, with a Sati behind him. A man holding a parasol indicated that the hero was a ruler or an important general.

Although thrilled to discover this buried Viragal, I was still looking for the two Viragals standing side by side. When I described them, Raju led us there. I was elated to see the two Viragals with all their details in broad daylight.

The left Viragal, broken at the top, had a broader bottom panel depicting a majestic figure of the hero on horseback with a vanquished enemy at his feet. Only part of the inscription in the broken top panel was visible.

The right Viragal, standing in a slanted position, was seven feet high and tapered toward the top. It had three panels. The wide bottom panel again depicted the hero on horseback, with a man holding a parasol behind him. The inscription began at the top with three lines and wrapped around the panels as it flowed downward.

Back home, I searched the annual reports of the Mysore Archaeological Survey (MAS). In MAS 1910, I found the first three lines of an inscription on a Viragal at Sankenhalli. It read: “svasti sri-Sivamara maharajar prituvi-rajyam-geye Balavemmarasara kalegadol eridu”. To my delight, five pages later was an estampage of these three lines engraved on the hero stone, showing the same tapering top I had observed on the right Viragal with inscription. The letters matched perfectly with the photographs we had taken.

According to MAS, the inscription states that “when Sivamara was ruling the earth, someone fought and fell in the war with Balavemmarasa and that Permanadigal (the king) granted some land.”

The other hero stone, with a broken top portion, refers to the same reign and states that “in the war with Balavemmarasa, Biriyama attacked the hostile army and fell.” The MAS also notes that “Balavemmarasa of these records is no doubt identical with Balavarma of the Chalukya family mentioned in the Kadaba plates of 812 AD.”

I was happy to re-discover the 9th century inscriptions after 115 years, at Sankenhalli, which now falls under Koratagere taluk.

A 9th-century broken Viragal with inscription found at Sankenhalli.