Support
Āyaka pillar; h. 204 ×  w. 38 ×  d. 26 cm.
Text
Middle Indo-Aryan, Southern Brāhmī script. 7 lines. Inscribed area: h. 47 ×  w. 46 cm.
Date
The 20th regnal year of Siri-Vīrapurisadatta, i.e., approximately between 225 and 275 CE.
Origin
Originally erected on the eastern Āyaka platform of the Stūpa near Jaggayyapeta.
Provenance
Discovered during excavations organised by Burgess in February 1882. Identified at Amaravati Site Museum (acc. no. 306, alt. 831) in January 2017. This pillar seems to have been moved from Chennai to Amaravati: perhaps among the material mentioned by Kannan 2014: 69
Visual Documentation
Photo(s):
  • JM 2017
  • Photo(s) of estampage(s):
  • Burgess 1887, plate LXIII (3)
  • Editors
    Arlo Griffiths and Vincent Tournier, with contributions by Stefan Baums and Ingo Strauch.
    Publication history
    First described and edited by Bühler 1882: 258-9 (III) , followed by Burgess 1882: 55-6 (reading and translation by Bhagvanlal Indraji) and then Burgess 1887: 110-1 (3) (new reading, with Bühler’s translation). Re-edited here from the estampage published by Burgess.
    (1) sidhaṁ raño māḍhariputasa °ikhākunā sirivirapurisadatasa saṁvachara 20 vāsāpakhaṁ 6 divasaṁ (2) 10 ka[]mākaraṭhe toḍature °āve⟨sa⟩nisa nākacaṁdasa pūto gāme mahākāṁḍurūre °āvesani (3) sidhatho °apaṇo mātaraṁ nāgilaniṁ purato kātunaṁ gharaniṁ ca samudaniṁ bālakaṁ ca mūlasiriṁ (4) bālikāṁ ca nākabudhanika[] bhatuka[] ca budhinakaṁ tasa gharaniṁ °ekanikaṁ bālakā ce nāgasiri caṁda(5)siri bālikaṁ ya s[i]dhathanika() °eva() nātimitasaṁbadhivagena saha gāme velagiriyaṁ bhagavato (6) budhasa mahācetiyapuvad[ā]re °āyakakhaṁbhe 5 saveniyute °apaṇo deyadhaṁmaṁ savasatānaṁ hi(7)tasukhāya patiṭhapita ti ||

    (1) sidhaṁ raño māḍhariputasa °ikhākunā sirivirapurisadatasa saṁvachara 20 vāsāpakhaṁ 6 divasaṁ
    (2) 10 ka[]mākaraṭhe toḍature °āve⟨sa⟩nisa nākacaṁdasa pūto gāme mahākāṁḍurūre °āvesani
    (3) sidhatho °apaṇo mātaraṁ nāgilaniṁ purato kātunaṁ gharaniṁ ca samudaniṁ bālakaṁ ca mūlasiriṁ
    (4) bālikāṁ ca nākabudhanika[] bhatuka[] ca budhinakaṁ tasa gharaniṁ °ekanikaṁ bālakā ce nāgasiri caṁda-
    (5)siri bālikaṁ ya s[i]dhathanika() °eva() nātimitasaṁbadhivagena saha gāme velagiriyaṁ bhagavato
    (6) budhasa mahācetiyapuvad[ā]re °āyakakhaṁbhe 5 saveniyute °apaṇo deyadhaṁmaṁ savasatānaṁ hi-
    (7)tasukhāya patiṭhapita ti ||
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    					          <pc>–</pc>
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    • (1) 6 8 JB .
    • (1) °ikhākunā °ikhākunaṁ JB .
    • (2) toḍature ṇaḍature JB .
    • (2) °āve⟨sa⟩nisa °āvenisa JB .
    • (3) °apaṇo °āpaṇo JB .
    • (3) kātunaṁ katūnaṁ JB .
    • (4) bālikāṁ bālikaṁ JB .
    • (4) °ekanikaṁ ca kanikaṁ JB .
    • (4) ce ca JB . Emend ca.
    • (5) saha sahā JB .
    • (6) saveniyute savaniyute JB . Emend savaniyute as in EIAD 32.
    • (7) patiṭhapita paṭithapita JB .
    (1–2)(Success!) In the 20th year of king Māṭharīputta Siri-Vīrapurisadatta of the Ikṣvākus, (in the 6th fortnight of the rainy season), on the 10th day.
    (2–7)The artisan (āvesani) Sidhatha (Siddhārtha), resident in Big Kāṇḍurūra, son of the artisan Nākacanda (Nāgacandra), resident in the village Toḍatūra in the province (raṭha) Kammāka, together with his mother Nāgilani as the foremost, and (his) distinguished wife (gharaṇī) Samudani, and (his) son Mūlasiri, (and his) daughter Nākabudhanikā, and (his) brother Budhinnaka, (and) the latter’s wife Ekanikā, and sons Nāgasiri (and) Candasiri, and daughter Sidhathanikā — thus together with the group of kinsmen, friends and relatives, established in the village Velagiri, at the eastern gate at the Great Shrine of the Bhagavant, the Buddha, 5 āyaka pillars, equipped with everything, as his pious gift, for the well-being and happiness of all beings.