Sravanagudi’s treasure trove of inscriptions

The inscriptions at Sravanagudi have been a topic of discussion among various epigraphists, historians and research scholars, in their attempts to find connections among the Ganga, Pallava, Nolamba and Chola kings.

On my way to Pavagada, when my co-traveller Rajanna informed me that he had seen some ‘raniyara kallu’ (queens’ stones), I was intrigued. He has spotted them near an almost flat hill beyond Bedathur village in Midigeshi hobli. After enlarging the terrain map near Bedathur on Google, I figured out that the place was Sravanagudi village. 

To my surprise, my very first archival search about Sravanagaudi led me to 10 inscriptions dated about 750 AD, on 10 hero stones, lying in the village burial ground. This was mentioned in Epigraphia Carnatica Vol 12, 1904 (EC12). These inscriptions talk about Gangul Pallava Raja, under whom Chola Dhananjaya Eriga was governor of the territory, Alvadi-600, and Cholika Muttarasa was governor of Kandakotta. All the inscriptions are memorials of warriors who fell in battle. Among them is one of the time of the Ganga king Sripurusha, who is well-known. 

These inscriptions at Sravanagudi have been a topic of discussion among various epigraphists, historians and research scholars, in their attempts to find connections among the Ganga, Pallava, Nolamba and Chola kings.

The Mysore Archaeological Survey report 1917-18 (MAS) also mentions these hero stones at Sravanagudi while talking about another ‘uninscribed viragal depicting a tiger pouncing on a bull’, which finds mention as a ‘tiger memorial’ in a book by S Settar and G D Sontheimer. 

Archaeological Survey of India’s annual report for the year 2015-16 talks about ‘improvements in reading the inscriptions from Sravanagudi’. 

All the hero stones mention the death of individuals in battles held between the Western Gangas and the Rashtrakutas. The Ganga king Sripurusha, who ruled from 725-788 AD, did not accept the suzerainty of the newly emerging kingdom of the Rashtrakutas, and hence, the battle became inevitable. 

However, none of these reports mentioned anything about queens, and I was in a fix whether they were ‘sati stones’ or hero stones. I decided to find out, and very soon, I was sitting in a bus headed towards Pavagada. Getting down at Bedathur, with the guidance of locals, I took a kaalu daari (small trail) through mango groves, wild growth and bushes in between two small hills. 

Finding the stones

When I reached the Hanuman temple at Sravanagudi, a young man named Yashwanth took me on his bike and showed me the bushes beyond, where those ‘queens’ stones’ were. When I reached the spot, I saw many stone slabs buried under thorny plants and around the tamarind tree in the ancient burial ground. They were hero stones; some were big, some were quite small. Some were standing tall and erect, some were flat on the ground. 

I took my time to clear the thorny bushes and the fallen dry leaves. I was delighted to see some of the hero stones emerge in all their glory with warriors on elephants and horses! The carving work on many of them was still sharp enough that even the decorations on animals were visible. Most of them had inscriptions, though few could clearly be read.  

In total, I could count 11 slabs that had some etching work visible, while there were 15 other slabs with faint work on them. I could imagine the fierce battles this region had seen. Today, it looks barren and abandoned. 

I did go around the region to locate the ‘tiger memorial’ hero stone mentioned in MAS (1914-15), but could not find it within the boundary of the burial ground.

After I came back to the village, almost everyone knew about my arrival and my search for those inscriptions and hero stones. 

As I enquired about the tiger memorial, a young boy, Charan, took me through slushy land to show me a big slab lying in a field. I was thrilled to see that it was indeed, the tiger memorial hero stone mentioned in MAS. The bottom part of the hero stone depicts a lion attacking a bull; the top part depicts the hero being lifted to the heavens by celestial nymphs. 

I was touched by the hospitality of the villagers, who offered me lunch. Charan then dropped me to the bus stop. As I got into the bus, I knew this place would pull me back again with its treasure trove of history.