No. 55. Nаgаrjunikoндa image inscription
H. K. Narasimhaswami - El, xxviii, No. 18.

The sculpture bearing a short one-line inscription engraved at its base, which is published below, was discovered in 1910 at Nаgаrjunikoндa, Guntur District, Andhra State, by Mr. K. Ramamurti, the Senior Conservation Assistant in the office of the Superintendent, Department of Archaeology, Southern Circle, Madras, who was then in charge of the Archaeological Museum at that place. It is a mutilated image in high relief on a white marble slab that was found half buried in the debris of rubble and stones on the northern slope of the Nаgаrjuna hill, overlooking the river Kршна. In the process of clearing the debris, Mr. Ramamurti discovered traces of a large many-pillared hall, at the extremity of which the image under review was found. The partly exposed pillars of this hall are made of marble similar to that used for the other monumenta of this place. The building, of which these pillars are the survivors, perhaps enshrined under its roof the very image which forms the subject matter of this article. A search for the missing portion of the image round about the region proved of no avail. The image is now kept in the Archaeological Museum at Nаgаrjunikoндa itself.

TEXT

Sidha[m*] | Mahаdеvиya a-vidhavаya j[и]vaputаya Mahаr[а]ja-siri-
[Ehavala Chaмtamu]la-pati[ya] Khaмдuvulаya kаritаti 8 [|] 9
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The punctuation (|) is indicated by a hook-like mark.
This ([Ehavala Chaмtamu]) portion of the inscription bears numerous scratches on the stone somewhat obliterating the letters enclosed in the brackets.
(For pati[ya])The stone has slightly peeled off here and with it the lower half of the letter ya has gone. There is a distinct mark of an anusvаra over ti. Probably the expression is patiмya, a corrupt form used in the sense of patnyа.
(For kаritаti) This expression obviously stands for kаritа iti.
The slanting stroke at the end seems to stand for the punctuation.