I837-] 



Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandua* 



authority, however, and a cherirra, or history of Yaraguna,* states his 

 repulsion of an invasion by the Choia king, Karavar Chola, his subse- 

 quent conquest of that kingdom, and its annexation to the Pancya 

 monarchy. A celebrated poet, named Bana, or Pana-patra, is said to 

 have flourished in this prince's reisrn. 



Tara Raja, or Raja XUjen ira, succeeded Yaraguna. In his reign a 

 ridiculous legend is narrated, which so far merits recapitulation, that 

 traces of it are frequent in the sculptures still visible at Madura. 



At Kuruvaituri, we^t of Madura, a rich farmer had twelve sons, who 

 spent tneir time in various sports, and especially in the chase. They 

 one day attacked a wild hog and his family, killed some, and pursued 

 the rest to the vicinity of a holy sage engaged in profound meditation. 

 Having disturbed the abstraction of the sage, he cursed them, denounc- 

 ing their future birth as hogs themselves. On their humiliation, how- 

 ever, and earnest prayers for forgiveness, he so far modified his impre- 

 cation as to make the temporary degradation the means of future ho- 

 nour and fame. 



The twelve youths being reborn in their porcine capacity, lost their 

 tender parents by the spears of Raja Rijendra and his fellow-sports- 

 men, whilst they were yet too young to provide for their own subsist- 

 ence. Their pitiful state moved the compassion of Choka Xayaka and 

 Minakshi Amman, who happened to be in the forest during the chase, 

 and they determined to act as the parents of the porkers. Minakshi 

 officiate 1 as their nurse, in which character figures of her occur, and 

 Choka Nayaka as their tutor. One effect of this divine protection was 

 to humanise their bodies, so that they became men with the heads of 

 pigs, in which combination their statues are sculptured.! Another 

 consequence of their fortunate destiny was their deriving from their 

 preceptor profound conversancy with arts, sciences, and letters, and 

 their consequent advancement to the ministerial administration of the 

 affairs of the Pandya kingdom. 



The reign of Raja Rajendra is followed by an interval which is im- 

 perfectly filled up in most of the authorities by a mere string of names. 

 The enumeration does not exactly agree in all cases ; but in those 

 which are the most authentic, it appears to extend to twenty-four or 

 twenty-five princes. If we allow twenty years to a reign, and admit 

 the accuracy of the enumeration, we should place the prince who suc- 

 ceeds these shadows in the second century of the Christian era : at the 

 same time, as the data are altogether insufficient, it is obvious, that 



- T-r- iestr.'tT-: is ::: 

 Arehsologia, toL x 457 : an: 

 l'HindjUiraiL, Irstrid 



