World's Earliest Inscription of Love

(For a Hindi version please Click Here)

Recently I was on a family trip to visit the Golden Triangle consisting of Bhubaneswar, Konark and Puri in Orissa. While at the Udayagiri caves near Bhubaneswar (ancient name Ekamra), on the extreme left, there was a cave chiselled to look like a lions mouth. There was a platform in front of it. The site is also datable to 2nd Century BC on the basis of an inscription of Kalingaraja Kharavela at the nearby Hathigumpha. The cave aforesaid, had a resemblance with some similar cave structure I had in my memory. That was the oldest rock cut cave theatre (Amphitheatre) in the Ramgarh hills of Sarguja District in Chhattisgarh (India). This is said to belong to the 3rd Century BC on the basis of a "first ever message of love" found inscribed on the walls of a nearby cave. The cave housing the "Natya Shala"(theatre) is known as Sitabengra. It is about 45 ft long and 15 ft wide. The stage is at a lower level while the gallery for seating the people is elavated. Caves were reportedly used as pleasure resorts in the ancient times.
The other cave nearby is Jogimarha which is 15 ft long and 12 ft wide. The roof here is higher than Sitabengra and is adorned with rock paintings. Monks could also be seen depicted in those paintings apart from other subjects. The name 'Jogimarha' itself suggests its association with Jogis or Monks. The message of love referred above could be found engraved on its walls. The script is Brahmi of the Asokan period (3rd Century BC). This is said to be the only inscription from any period preserving pure Magadhi. The reason being the pronunciation of 'Dasi' as 'Dashi'.
The original text appears in the photograph below.

The English transliteration (Indian Epigraphy - Richard Salomon) is as follows:
Sutanuka nama
devadashikyi
Sutanuka nama I devadashikyi I
tam kamayitha bal(a)naseye I
devadine nama I lupadakhe I
Although scholars are not unanimous about the exact translation, conversely we may put it as:
"Devidin a Sculptor from Varanasi fell in love with Sutanuka, a Devadasi"
Some doubts do arise in my mind when I look at the message. Devidin, apparently a person skilled in carving, as the adjective 'lupadakhe' suggests, has failed to do justice with the inscription. Geometrical proportion in lettering has been totally ignored. We may compare the Brahmi Characters with that appearing in the Asokan edicts for the purpose. Here is an example of his

Girnar Inscriptions.

Constitution 1,000 years ago

by T.S. Subramaniam

A perfect electoral system existed, inscriptions found in Uthiramerur reveal.
Photos: S. Thanthoni

The mandapa of the Vaikuntaperumal temple.
It may be hard to believe that nearly 1,100 years ago, a village had a perfect electoral system and a written Constitution prescribing the mode of elections. It was inscribed on the walls of the village assembly (grama sabha mandapa), which was a rectangular structure made of granite slabs. “This inscription, dated around 920 A.D. in the reign of Parantaka Chola, is an outstanding document in the history of India,” says Dr. R. Nagaswamy, former Director, Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, referring to Uthiramerur in Chingleput district.
“It is a veritable written Constitution of the village assembly that functioned 1,000 years ago,” Dr. Nagaswamy says in his book, “Uthiramerur, the Historic Village in Tamil Nadu.” The book, in both Tamil and English, has been published by the Tamil Arts Academy, Chennai.
Dr. Nagaswamy says: “It [the inscription] gives astonishing details about the constitution of wards, the qualification of candidates standing for elections, the disqualification norms, the mode of election, the constitution of committees with elected members, the functions of [those] committees, the power to remove the wrong-doer, etc…”


And that is not all. “On the walls of the mandapa are inscribed a variety of secular transactions of the village, dealing with administrative, judicial, commercial, agricultural, transportation and irrigation regulations, as administered by the then village assembly, giving a vivid picture of the efficient administration of the village society in the bygone ages.” The villagers even had the right to recall the elected representatives if they failed in their duty!
It has a 1,250-year history
Uthiramerur has a 1,250-year history. It is situated in Kanchipuram district, about 90 km from Chennai. The Pallava king Nandivarman II established it around 750 A.D. It did exist earlier as a brahmin settlement. It was ruled by the Pallavas, the Cholas, the Pandyas, the Sambuvarayars, the Vijayanagara Rayas and the Nayaks. It has three important temples, the Sundara Varadaraja Perumal temple, the Subramanya temple and the Kailasanatha temple. Plans are under way for the conservation and restoration of the Kailasanatha temple, which is in ruins.
All the three temples have numerous inscriptions — those of the great Raja Raja Chola (985-1015 A.D.), his able son, Rajendra Chola and the Vijayanagar emperor Krishnadeva Raya. Both Rajendra Chola and Krishnadeva Raya visited Uthiramerur.
Uthiramerur, built as per the canons of the agama texts, has the village assembly mandapa exactly at the centre and all the temples are oriented with reference to the mandapa.
R. Vasanthakalyani, Chief Epigraphist-cum-Instructor and R. Sivanandam, epigraphist, both belonging to the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology, said that while village assemblies might have existed prior to the period of Parantaka Chola, it was during his period that the village administration was honed into a perfect system through elections. “About 1,100 years ago, during the period of Paranataka Chola, Uthiramerur had an elected village panchayat system, which was a step ahead of the modern day democratic system,” she said.
According to Dr. Sivanandam, there were several places in Tamil Nadu where inscriptions are available on temple walls about the prevalence of village assemblies. These villages included Manur near Tirunelveli, Tiruninravur near Chennai, Manimangalam near Tambaram, Dadasamudram near Kanchipuram, Sithamalli and Thalaignayiru near Thanjavur, Jambai near Tirukovilur and Ponnamaravathy near Pudukottai. “But it is at Uthiramerur on the walls of the village assembly (mandapa) itself, that we have the earliest inscriptions with complete information about how the elected village assembly functioned,” said Dr. Sivanandam. It is learnt that the entire village, including the infants, had to be present at the village assembly mandapa at Uthiramerur when the elections were held, pointed out Vasanthakalyani. Only the sick and those who had gone on a pilgrimage were exempt.

The Tamil inscriptions elaborate on the election procedure followed several centuries ago.


There were committees for the maintenance of irrigation tanks, roads, to provide relief during drought, testing of gold and so on. Sivanandam himself has written a book in Tamil called, “The Archaeological Handbook of Kanchipuram district,” (published by the Tamil Nadu Department of Archaeology in 2008) in which he says the original sabha mandapa’s superstructure was made of timber and bricks. After the superstructure collapsed and only the base of the mandapa made of granite slabs remained, Kulotunga Chola I built a Vishnu temple on the base towards the end of the 11th century.
The village sabha mandapa, with its invaluable inscriptions, is now called Vaikuntaperumal temple. Dr. Nagaswamy says: “The village assembly of Uttaramerur drafted the Constitution for the elections. The salient features were as follows: the village was divided into 30 wards, one representative elected for each. Specific qualifications were prescribed for those who wanted to contest. The essential criteria were age limit, possession of immovable property and minimum educational qualification. Those who wanted to be elected should be above 35 years of age and below 70…”
Only those who owned land, that attracted tax, could contest. Another interesting stipulation, according to Dr. Nagaswamy, was that such owners should have possessed a house built on legally-owned site (not on public poromboke). A person serving in any of the committees could not contest again for the next three terms, each term lasting a year. Elected members, who suffered disqualification, were those who accepted bribes, misappropriated others’ property, committed incest or acted against public interest.

Courtesy: Shri Ram Varmah (varmah@yahoo.com)
http://tinyurl.com/6y5hnu