188 Historical Sketch of the Kingdom of Pandya. [Jul7 



any conclusions advanced must be subjected to a considerable lntitude, 

 and that, consequently, the real date of Vamsa Sek'hara's accession 

 cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy. It is quite suffici- 

 ent to bring it within some moderate limits, and to place it not only 

 upon this computation, but on various other grounds, in the early cen- 

 turies of our era. 



At whatever period it may have occurred, the accession of Vamsa 

 Sek'hara seems to have been the result of some political disorganisa- 

 tion of the Pandya kingdom, as the different authorities concur in con- 

 sidering him as the founder of a new dynasty. The Madura Parana 

 describes him as the first prince who reigned after the recovery of Pan- 

 dyam from the waters which had deluged the world, and as receiving- 

 from Mula Linga, instructions for the readjustment of the limits of the 

 kingdom; in which latter account the different authorities concur. 

 They also agree in representing him as the founder of the fort and pa- 

 lace of Madura, of various temples and public buildings, and as the 

 restorer or enlarger of the ancient city. It is not improbable, that the 

 extensive remains of these buildings still in existence, and calculated 

 by their massiveness to defy the unassisted effects of time, are, in part, 

 relics of the works of Vamsa Sek'hara. The fort of Madura is at pre- 

 sent about three miles and three-quarters* in circumference, and in- 

 cludes the ruins of the palace, the temple of Choka Nat'h, and the Chol- 

 tri of Tirumalla Nayaka. The latter is a modern building: and the 

 same period witnessed considerable additions to the palace, which, pro- 

 bably, occasioned the mixture of Indian and Saracenic architecture ob- 

 served by Daniel; as, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the latter 

 seems to have been introduced from Persia by the Mogul emperors, 

 and engrafted upon the square and massive, although florid, style, 

 which may be regarded as exclusively Indian. This style is evident in 

 the pagoda of Choka Nat'h and its adjoining arcades, and bears testi- 

 mony to their claims to very respectable antiquity. Vamsa Sek'hara 

 is said to have also re-established, or possibly he introduced, the prac» 

 tice of carrying the god abroad, on particular festivals, in large cars 

 magnificently ornamented, and dragged by the people. f 



The reign of Vamsa Sek'hara was also distinguished by an event 

 which led to important consequences to the literature of the peninsula, 

 and which is one reason for placing his reign in the earlier ages of 

 Christianity. This was the foundation of a College at Madura, for the 

 cultivation, it would appear, of profane literature and the Tamil lan- 

 guage. The different authorities agree in this account, dividing the 

 merit of the act between Vamsa Sek'hara, and his son and successor, 



* Hamilton's India, vol. ii. p, 469. 



+ Le Pere Bouciiet au Pere * * *, Lettres Edifiantes, vol. xiii. p. 126 ; Blackader. 

 Avcha;ologia, vol. x. ; Daniel's Oriental Scenery ; and L angles' Monumens de l'Hin- 

 doustan, vol. ii. 



