1899.] 
SOUTHERN DISTRICTS OF MADAVARAJYA. 
179 
The place of pilgrimage is the sacred spring of Papasudctna sin- 
removing ’), situated a short distance above Kother. In it Siva is 
believed to have shown himself in the disguise ( kapata ) of pieces of 
wood floating on the water. The legend is related at length in the 
Nilamata, and the author of the Haracaritacintamanl devotes to it a 
separate canto which has now become the official Mahatmya of the 
Tlrtha. 1 The importance of the latter is shown by the fact that 
Kalhana mentions it in his Introduction first among the sacred sites of 
K as mir. 
Before him already Alberuni had heard of the story that pieces 
of wood sent by Mahadeva appear annually “ in a pond called Kudai- 
shahr to the left of the source of the Vitasta, in the middle of the month 
of Vaisaklia.” 2 Kudaishalir ), is an easily explained corrup¬ 
tion for i.e ., *Kavades'var , a prakritized form of the name. The 
map shows that the description of the position of the Tlrtha is accurate 
enough with reference to the Nilanaga as the Vitasta’s traditional 
source. The date named by Alberuni is identical with that prescribed 
for the Kapatesvara Yatra. 
The sacred spring rises in a large circular tank, enclosed by an 
ancient stone-wall with steps leading into the water. According to 
Kalhana’s account this enclosure was constructed about a century before 
his own time at the expense of the well-known King Bhoja of Malava. 
The latter is said to have taken a vow to always wash his face in 
the water of the Papasudana spring which he caused to be regularly 
supplied to him in jars of glass. 3 In my note on the passage I have 
shown that local tradition at Kother still retains a recollection of this 
story though in a rather legendary form. A small temple which stands 
to the east of the tank, and some other remains probably belong to the 
period of Bhoja. Abu-1-Fazl too knows, “ in the village of Kotihar, 
a deep spring surrounded by stone temples. When its water decreases 
an image of Mahadeva in sandal wood appears.” 
About four miles to the north-east of Kother and on a branch of 
_ . _ _ the Ar a path river lies the populous village 
amahgasa. of S'angcis, the ancient S'amangasa. 4 * The modern 
name can be traced back to S'amarigasa through a course of regular 
phonetic conversion, one stage of which is preserved in the form 
Svangas supplied by the old glossator of the Chronicle. 6 Some old 
1 Haracar. xiv. 
2 See India, ii. p. 181. 
8 See Rdjat. vii. 190 sqq. 
4 See Rdjat. i. 100; viii. 651. 
6 Compare Rdjat. i. 100 note and the analogy of S'andra > S'dr. 
