Epigraphical Profile & Archaeological Context
Location & Site:Chandragiri Hill, Shravanabelagola, Karnataka
Historical Period:Early Western Ganga Era (7th Century CE)
Patron Sovereign:Western Ganga Monastic Circle
🖋️Primary Inscriptional Text
Kannada-Brahmi Script • SanskritOriginal Text Transliterated in Devanagari / Regional Script:
अस्ति भद्रबाहुस्वामि-प्रशिष्य-परम्परानुयाते... कटवप्रनामकस्य गिरिवरस्य...
Romanized Transliteration (IAST):
Asti Bhadrabāhu-svāmi-praśiṣya-paramparānuyāte... Kaṭavapra-nāmakasya giri-varasya...
Scholarly English Translation:
“The venerable Shruta Kevali Bhadrabahu, having foreseen a twelve-year famine in North India, led the twelve-thousand-strong Sangha to the southern summit of Katavapra (Chandragiri). There, attended by his disciple Prabhachandra (Chandragupta Maurya), he accomplished the sacred vow of Sallekhana.”
🔬Historical & Epigraphical Significance
The foundational epigraphical record preserved in Epigraphia Carnatica Vol. II documenting the historical southward migration that preserved the pure unclad Digambara monastic code.
Primary Epigraphical Citations:
- Rice, B. Lewis, Epigraphia Carnatica, Vol. II: Inscriptions at Sravana Belgola, No. 1, 1889
- Narasimhachar, R., Epigraphia Carnatica, Vol. II (Revised), 1923
Associated Archaeological Monument:
View Monument ProfileShravanabelagola Vindhyagiri & Chandragiri Hills
The supreme spiritual epicenter of South Indian Digambara Jainism. Features the 57-foot free-standing monolithic colossus of Bhagwan Bahubali atop Vindhyagiri, and the sacred Chandragiri Hill containing 14 historic basadis and over 500 lithic inscriptions.