Epigraphical Profile & Archaeological Context
Location & Site:Kankali Tila, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh
Historical Period:Kushana Period (1st–2nd Century CE)
Patron Sovereign:Emperor Kanishka I Era Endowments
🖋️Primary Inscriptional Text
Brahmi Script • PrakritOriginal Text Transliterated in Devanagari / Regional Script:
सम्व ४० ९ हेमन्त मासे... देवनिर्मिते वोद्वे थूपे अरहतो...
Romanized Transliteration (IAST):
Samva 49 hemanta-māse... deva-nirmite vodve thūpe arahato pratimā pratishṭhāpitā Kottiyāto gaṇāto...
Scholarly English Translation:
“In Year 49 of the Great King... At the divine Vodva Stupa built by the gods, a sacred image of the Arhat was consecrated by the pious assembly belonging to the Kottiya Gana and the Brahmadasika Kula.”
🔬Historical & Epigraphical Significance
Proves that the Jina Stupa at Mathura was already considered of immemorial antiquity ("built by the gods") in the 1st century CE, and documents the early monastic branches of the Digambara sangha.
Primary Epigraphical Citations:
- Bühler, Georg, Epigraphia Indica, Vol. I & II, 1892–1894
- Lüders, Heinrich, Mathura Inscriptions, Göttingen, 1961
Associated Archaeological Monument:
Explore MonumentsDeogarh Temple Complex (Luachhagir Fortress)
A fortified cliff-top archaeological complex of 31 structural Digambara temples and over 2,000 intact sculptures. Monographed exhaustively by Klaus Bruhn in 1969, Deogarh is the world premier laboratory of medieval North Indian Jina iconography.