This stone inscription is carved onto the back wall of the veranda of the Ghaṭokaca cave at Gulwāḍā, which is a Buddhist site. The inscription, like those found at Ajaṇṭā, has been damaged by the weather, originally being 22 lines long, but now the last four lines are almost completely worn away. According to Shastri (1997: 44-45), the inscription was incised to record the excavation of the cave in which it is recorded and its donation to a Buddhist saṅgha, although the damage to the inscription over time has led to the details of the donation remaining unknown. The beginning of the inscription includes praise of the Buddha and a family history of Varāhadevā, a minister of the Vākāṭaka king, Hariṣeṇa.
| Metadata | |
|---|---|
| Inscription ID | IN00179 |
| Title | Ghatotkaca Cave Inscription of Varahadeva |
| Alternative titles | |
| Parent Object | OB00166 |
| Related Inscriptions | |
| Responsibility | |
| Author | Dániel Balogh |
| Print edition recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Source encoded | |
| Digitally edited by | |
| Edition improved by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for | Own research. |
| Metadata recorded by | Dániel Balogh |
| Authority for metadata | |
| Metadata improved by | |
| Authoriy for improved | |
| Language | संस्कृतम् |
| Reigning monarch | Hariṣeṇa |
| Commissioner | |
| Topic | |
| Date: | |
| Min | 460 |
| Max | 510 |
| Comment | Basis of dating: approximate reign of Hariṣeṇa. |
| Hand | |
| Letter size | 1.6 |
| Description | southern class, Central Indian, no prominent boxheads |
| Layout | |
| Campus: | |
| Width | 122 |
| Height | 71 |
| Description | Bradley 1857: 118 says the engraved inscription is coated with fine stucco and the vowel marks appear to have been painted. The inscription probably had 22 lines, but is badly damaged. Only the first 10 lines can be read more or less completely, and some of the left-hand side of the next 8 is also legible. The right-hand side of these 8 lines and the remainder of the inscription is lost to decay. Character size estimated. |
| Decoration | None. |
| Bibliography | |
| References | First reported in Bradley 1857: 118 (as the cave of "Guttoor Duz" in Baitalbari). First edited (without facsimile) by Bhagwanlal Indraji in Burgess Indraji 1881: 88-90. Re-edited by Bühler in Burgess 1883: 138-140 with a facsimile (Plate 60) made by Indraji and "somewhat worked up by hand" (according to Mirashi 1963: 112), with a new facsimile in Mirashi 1952 and (finally) in Mirashi 1963. Discussed in Shastri 1997: 44-46. |
| Add to bibliography | |
| Misc notes | |