1899'.] 
NORTHERN DISTRICTS OF MADAVARAJYA. 171 
one of the oldest and most famous shrines of the Valley, the temple 
of Visnu Cakradhara. 
The plateau is still known as Tsak a dar Udar. 1 Brahman tradition 
is aware of the derivation of this name from Cakradhara. It was first 
brought to the notice of European scholars by Prof. Buhler who had 
duly recognized the antiquarian importance of the site. 2 The shrine of 
Cakradhara is often mentioned as a Tirtha of great sanctity. 3 It was 
also closely connected with the legends regarding the burned city of 
Narapura , localized as we shall see in its close vicinity. But the only 
detailed notice of the temple we owe to a historical incident which 
occurred there during the civil wars of Sussala’s reign. 4 * 
The royal troops having been forced to evacuate the neighbouring 
town of Vijayesvara or Vij^bror, the inhabitants of the latter place and 
the neighbouring villages took refuge in the temple of Cakradhara. This, 
by its position on the high and steep Udar, was naturally well-adapted 
for defence. The temple filled by the crowd of fugitives and routed 
soldiers, was soon besieged by the rebel troops of Bhiksacara. The 
temple courtyard was protected by massive wooden ramparts and gates. 
When these had been set on fire by the assailants a mighty conflagration 
ensued in which the whole mass of people inside perished. Kalhana 
vividly describes this great catastrophe which he believes to have 
provoked divine vengeance and thus to have brought about the downfall 
of the pretender. 
The account here given is of topographical interest. It show T s that 
the temple actually stood on the flat top of the Udar, and also explains 
the scarcity of stone-remains in this locality. The absence of conspicu¬ 
ous ruins had already been noticed by Prof. Buhler. When visiting 
in 1895 the Tsak a dar Udar, I found only traces of a quadrangular 
enclosure, about forty yards square. They are marked by hollows at 
the northern end of the Udar which is separated from the rest by a 
dip iu the ground. These hollows may possibly be the last indications 
of the wooden ramparts which enclosed the shrine. 
The temple seems to have been subsequently restored, and* 
Jonaraja mentions the statue of Cakradhara among those chief divine 
images which Sikandar Butshikast destroyed. 6 Jayadratha in his 
1 See Rajah i. 38, 201 notes. 
2 See Report , p. 18. 
3 See Rdjat. vii. 258, 261, 269 j Jonar. (Bo. ed.), 763 j S'rikanthac. iii. 12; Nila* 
mata, 1170. 
4 See Rdjat, viii. 971-995. The date of the burning of Cakradhara seems to 
have been the 12th S'ravana sudi, a.d. 1121 . 
6 See Jonar, (Bo. ed.), 763. 
