TRIVIKRAMA: WORD AND STATUE: A NEW INTERPRETATION OF RĀMAGIRI EVIDENCE
[Article]
Hans Bakker
The Vākāṭaka stone inscription found in the Kevala Narasiṃha Temple (5th century AD) on top of the Rāmagiri (Ramtek) has been published several times. In the present article the author takes a fresh look at the first dedicatory stanza of this inscription. He suggests several conjectural readings for the illegible parts of this verse. Parallels of some of the conjectured readings are found in the Śatapathabrāhmaṇa. If these conjectures are correct, it appears that the inscription and the pious deeds recorded in it are dedicated to Viṣṇu Trivikrama. It is argued that the nearby ruin of a Trivikrama Temple is the original home of this inscription. When the Kevala Narasiṃha Temple was restored in the Bhonsle period, the inscription stone, or what remained of it, may have been brought from the ruins of the Trivikrama Temple to the Narasiṃha Temple.