Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura – Inscriptions

Amrutesvara Temple, Amruthapura – Inscriptions

There is an inscription on a stone slab near the entrance porch on the southern side of the temple. This inscription is dated to 1196 CE during the reign of Hoysala king Veera Ballala II. It records the genealogy of Hoysalas, story of sala slaying the tiger, his military exploits, his temple building activities, genealogy of Hoysala General Amritesvara Dandanayaka and his public works. This inscription records the construction of this temple, grants made to this temple and offerings made to the priests and workers of this temple.

This inscription was composed by the renowned court poet Kavi Chakravarty (emperor among poets) Janna who contributed immensely to the Kannada literature of medieval Karnataka. It was written by Nakanna, who was a disciple of Lokkigundi Mahadevanna and engraved by the sculptor Malloja. There is another inscription on a stone slab near the entrance porch on the northern side of the temple.

This inscription is dated to 1206 CE during the reign of Hoysala king Veera Ballala II. It records the genealogy of Hoysalas and his military exploits. This inscription records the gifts, grants and renovations carried out by a servant of the king named Maha Samanta Chudamani Naga Gounda and his family. There is an inscriptional slab on the south side of the temple dated to 1210 CE. It records the gift and taxes paid to the temple.

There is an inscriptional slab in front of Basava temple dated to 1547 CE during the reign of Vijayanagara King Sadasiva Raya. It records the gift of perpetual lamp and grant of lands made to this temple by a government official named Tirupati Ramarajayya. There is another inscription dated to 1547 CE in the same slab recording the visit of Ali Khan Sahib and his grants to the village.

There are two hero stones (Veera Kal) dated to 1214 CE and another two hero stones (Veera Kal) dated to 1287 CE in the temple premises. Some of the ceilings of navaranga have labels on the sides below giving the names of sculptors who made them. The names mentioned are Mallitamma, Paduman, Baluga, Malaya, etc.