Media Release

Cacoda (Goa), Jan 5: A rare inscription written in Kannada and Sanskrit languages was in the premises Mahadeva temple at Cacoda in Southern Goaby by Dr Rajendra Kerkar, a dedicated environmentalist of Goa.

Prof T Murugeshi, associate professor in ancient history and archaeologist from Udupi informed that the epigraph is engraved in Kannada and Nagari characters of 10th century AD, and belongs to the Kadambas of Goa. The inscription opens with an auspicious word ‘Be it well’ (Swasthi Shri), and records that when Talara Nevayya was administering the mandala, his son Gundayya, having taken a vow to fulfill his father’s desire of capturing a Gopura, the port of Goa, fought and died after fulfilling his father’s wish. Very interestingly, the record is composed as a vocal statement on the death of his son from the mouth of a lamenting father. It is in the literary style of Talangre inscription of Jayasimha I of the same period.

Kadambas of Goa were the subordinates of Chalukyas of Kalyana. Chalukyan emperor Tailapa II was appointed Kadamba Shasthadeva as Mahamandaleshwara of Goa, for his help in overthrowning the Rashtrakutas. Kadamba Shasthadeva conquered the city of Chandavara from the Shilaharas in 960 AD. Later on, he conquered the port of Gopakapattana (present day Goa). Perhaps in this battle, Gundayya, the son of Talara Nevayya, participated and won the port at the cost of his life. His father, on the heroic fight of his son, erected a memorial stone with the inscription, in the temple premises of Mahadev in Cacoda.