Historical PlaceInscribed pillar

Talagunda Pillar Inscription

5th-century granite pillar at Talagunda carrying a Sanskrit poem on the rise of the Kadamba dynasty

Photo: F Kielhorn (died 1908) · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

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01 — The story

The Talagunda pillar stands in front of the ruined, partly restored Pranavalingeshwara (Pranaveshvara) Shiva temple north-west of Talagunda village in Shikaripur taluk, Shimoga district, close to State Highway 1 and about 80 km north-west of Shivamogga. Dated to between 455 and 470 CE, its inscription tells of the Kadamba dynasty and the times of King Shantivarma in north-west Karnataka.

The octagonal pillar of hard grey granite is 1.635 metres high and tapers slightly towards a square top. The text covers all eight faces, in two vertical lines on seven of them and one short line on the last, in Kadamba script, opening with 'Siddham' and an invocation to Shiva. Its 34 verses are written in polished classical Sanskrit using several metres, and the opening 24 verses are the oldest known example of the matrasamaka metre. B. L. Rice found the inscription in 1894, and F. Kielhorn published a full translation in 1906.

Unmapia

02 — About

Coming soon

We’re still writing about Talagunda Pillar Inscription: its history, what’s there and why it’s worth the trip.