330 
rNo. 4, 
M. Chakravarti — Jagannatha Temple in Puri. 
noisy shore of the sea gave away his wealth in charity at the time of 
an eclipse of the bright moon ; (and) gladdening his ancestors with the 
water thrown from his hands, he for a moment obtained the fellow T ship 
of the moon, eclipsed at full-moon time.” 
This inscription is dated 1059 Caka or 1137-38 A.D. It was com¬ 
posed by one Gaggadhara, son of Manoratha. The extract shows that 
the composer’s father paid a visit to Purusottama, and gave gifts on the 
shore of the sea. This visit may be presumed to have taken place 12 
or 15 years back from the date of the inscription, or about 1122-25 
A.D. The Purusottama-Ksettra and necessarily the temple must have 
existed bv that time, and must have attained considerable fame to 
deserve such specific mention. Thirty to thirty-five years might be 
allowed for this sanctity and the temple can be fairly supposed to have 
existed by (1125-35 or) 1090 A.D. 
That the Ksettra and the temple existed before the end of the 
eleventh century receives some corroboration from another inscription. 
In the Nagpur pra 9 asti of the Malava rulers I find the following 
passage :— 
Translation by Prof. Kielhorn :— 
“ Near the eastern ocean clever men thus artfully proclaimed 
his praise, while he, pleased, looked on bashfully: ‘ 0 lord, it w'as the 
holy Purusottama to whom fortune resorted, who relieved the universe 
by subduing the enemy Bali, and who supported the earth.’ ” 
The king referred to is Laksma Deva of Malava, and the verse 
extracted is one of several describing his digvijaya. The verses 
preceding this refer to the invasion of East India, and the imme¬ 
diately preceding verse 43 refers to his conquest of Aijga and Kaliijga, 
while the immediately succeeding verse 45 refers to the eastern ocean. 
The allusion to the “holy Purusottama ” in the extract, and its juxta¬ 
position with Aijga, Kaliijga and the eastern ocean points clearly to 
the Purusottama-Ksettra and consequently its temple. The inscription 
is dated Samvat 1161 or 1104-5 A.D. Hence the Purusottama temple 
would have existed some time before this, or say circa 1090 A.D. 
6 Ep. Inch, Vol. II, p. 187 ; for translation see p. 193. 
