Kalinganagara and Excavation at its present site
By Prof. B.C. Bhattacharya, M.A.
Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society
Vol. 14, part III & IV., 1929 pp. 623-634
p. 623
In the last issue of this journal, Mr. B. V,
Krishnarao contributed an article entitled "The
identification of Kalinganagara" and expressed his
unqualified conviction in favour of his new
identification, which is, in fact, an old one,
attempted long ago by Mr. G.V. Ramamurty in the pages
of Epigraphia Indica, Volume IV, 1896-1897. From the
present article, reiterating the old views of Mr.
Ramamurty, scholars can derive no fresh information
of any importance. Before controverting the writer's
arguments, let me first summarize the main points,
upon which both the old scholar Mr. Ramamurty and the
present scholar Mr. Krishnarao have based their
identical conclusion.
A. Kalinganagara, the old capital of the Kalinga
country, is to be identified with the present site of
Mukhalingam or the joint site of Mukhalingam and
Nagarakatakam, situated on the bank of the Vamsadhara
and at a distance of about 30 miles from the sea.
This identification has been arrived at by both the
writers from the evidence of some dedicatory
inscriptions found in the temple of God Madhukesvara.
The inscriptions differently refer to a 'Nagara' of
Kalinga, which they ask their readers to understand
as Kalinganagara. The passages occurring in the
inscriptions are: Kalingavani Nagare, Kalinga-Desa-
Nagare, Nagare Madhukesvarayam (the word 'Kalinga'
omitted).
B. The copper-plate inscription of Anantavarman,
dated 1040 of an unspecified era, edited by Fleet (1)
records the fact that Kamanava II, the nephew of
Kamarnava I, had a town named "Nagara," in which he
built a lofty temple for an emblem of God Isa in the
linga form to which he had given
1. Ind, Ant,, Vol, XVIII, pp. 170, off,
p. 624
the name of "Madhukesa" because it was produced by a
Madhuka tree. The temple still exists at Mukhalingam.
The inscription further informs us that Kamarnava I,
the alleged founder of the Ganga dynasty, had for his
capital the town named Jantavuram. Mr. Ramamurty gave
the following equations on the authority of a
Ksetramahatmya:-
Jantavuram = Jayantapuram = Madhukesvaram =
Mukhalingam.
Mr. Krishnarao, however, proves at length the
error of this identity and believes that the
Jantavuram is a misreading for Dantavuram to be
identified with Dantapuram. The word "Nagara"
mentioned in the inscriptions of Kamaranava II is to
be taken as "Madhu-Kesa" in the opinion of Mr.
Ramamurty and as Nagarakatakam in Mr. Krishnarao's
opinion.
C. Both the scholars undoubtedly affirm that
Nagarakatakam means a Royal residence in Nagara and
therefore it is to be equated with Kalinganagara, the
famous capital of Kalinga.
D. The sea-port place Kalingapatam showed to both
the scholars no ancient site nor any ruins worth
consideration whereas the Mukhalingam site furnished
them with old bricks, ruins of temples, carved
pillars of some past age. Hence the latter is to be
archaeologically judged to be the site of the ancient
capital Kalinganagara.
E. Mr. Krishnarao quotes from an inscription
found in the temple of Mukhalingesvara, which records
a grant to the dancers and musicians of the God
Madhukesvara issued from Kalinganagara itself by
Anantavarman and feels convinced that the form "From
Kalinganagara" is to be interpreted as "in
Kalinganagara." He writes, "Svasti! Srimat
Kalinganagarat! etc." meaning "Hail! From the
Victorious Kalinganagara." Thus, when there is a
record concerning the dancers and musicians of the
temple of Madhukesvara in Kalinganagara, issued from
and inscribed in a prominent place in the temple
itself, in Kalinganagara, what stronger proof is
required to identify Mukhalingam and Nagarakatakam
with the ancient Kalinganagara?"
p. 625
Having outlined the principal contents of the
papers in question, let us now examine how far the
arguments advanced may be regarded as conclusive. Mr.
Krishnarao has evidently fallen into an error in his
supposition that the place, whence the royal grant
had been issued and the place wherein it is found now
are one and the same. In all such inscriptions
referred to by him, it is definitely stated
"Kalinganagarat (i.e. from Kalinganagara) and not
Kalinganagare (in Kalinganagara). Therefore such
conclusion is absolutely unwarranted and groundless.
There can be no objection, however, to his
identification of Mukhalingam with Madhukesvara or
Madhukalingam. But the passages occurring in the
Mukhalingam inscriptions, viz., Kalingavani Nagare,
Kalingadesa Nagare can mean in Sanskrit no more than
a town in the country of Kalinga or the town named
Nagara in the Kalinga country (Desa). If the author
of the inscriptions meant to denote Kalinganagara, he
would have mentioned it simply as in all other cases
and not interposed unmeaningly Avani or Desa in the
expressions. Kalinganagara is a proper name and an
early recorded name. May we modestly ask the writer
if he can show any instance in which such a proper
name has been found split up? Further, we meet with,
in another instance, the expression Nagare Kalinga
Dese, which it has been ridiculous for the writer to
transpose and make somehow "Kalinganagara" for the
mere sake of argument. We have multiple instances, as
will be shown later, where Kalinganagara has been
straightway mentioned.
As regards the identity of Jantavuram with
Jayantapuram of the Ksetramahatmya, I have reason to
agree with Mr. Ramamurty. Here, Mr. Krishnarao
attacks it and strongly believes that Jantavuram is a
misreading. It may or may not be so as we have no
means of examining the facsimile of the inscription.
At the same time, I may point out that the name
Jayantapuram for a town in Kalinga is not purely
fanciful. I found the mention of this name in Pali
form in the Vessantara Jataka, where it appears as
Jayatura. I quote the passage, "In the Jambudvipa of
a former age, the principal city of Sivi was
P. 626
called Jayatura........... The country of Chetiya and
the city of Jayatura became as one. At this time
there was a famine in Kalinga, from want of
rain.........." (1) This clearly proves the existence
of the town Jayatura or Jayantapura in the Buddhist
age. It also shows that the country of Chetiya and
the city of Jayatura were in Kalinga and were under
different rulers. This reference makes clear that the
country of Chetiya was ruled by the Chetis, a tribe
of the 16 Janapadas, whose identity has been so long
a matter of conjecture. (2) There is hardly any
doubt, that Kharavela, who calls himself "Cheta
raja-vasa-vadhana", (3) was descended from this tribe
of Kalinga. Thus, the existence of Jantavura or
Jayantapura or Jayapura, another name of Mukhalingam
or Madhukesvara can be historically proved. According
to the copper-plate inscription of 1040, Kamarnava II
had a town named simply Nagara, where he built a
temple of Siva under the name Madhukesvara. Mr.
Krishnarao is nearly right in holding this Nagara to
be identified with Nagarakatakam, a village in the
neighbourhood of Mukhalingam. He should have been
more right in stating with Mr. Ramamurty that both
Nagarakatakam and Mukhalingam were comprised in one
area which as a whole bore the proper name Nagara. So
far there is no disagreement. But I have every
question to raise agains the assumption that this
Nagara was ever meant to be Kalinganara, a special
name borne by so many authentic records. At least
this identity can hardly be authenticated by the same
record, where unlike Nagara the famous name
Kalinganagara is conspicuous by its omission.
As to the proposition marked C, I quite agree
that the word Kataka means either a capital or a
royal camp. Thus
1. The Vessantara Jataka, quoted in Hardy's "A Mannual
of Buddhism," p. 166 off
2. Buddhist India, p. 26. The late Prof. Rhys. Davids
repeating the word, " probably " tried in vain to
identify the Cetis with one or the other tribe
of earlier origin but did not come to any conclusion.
3. J.B.O.R.S., Volume III, part IV, pages 453. The
Hathigumpha Inscription, edited by Mr. K.P. Jayaswal.
p. 627
Nagarakataka may mean the capital known by the name
Nagara but it is not to be mistaken with the
Kalinganagar, distinctly mentioned as such in all
inscriptions. (1)
Thus it can almost be concluded that neither
Mukhalingam nor Nagarakatakam ever bore the epithet
Kalinganagara to be gathered from any testimony of
the Mukhalingam inscriptions. Where is then the
present site of Kalinganagara?
Let us now turn to some unquestionable documents,
both literary and epigraphic, and see what light they
throw upon this identification. I may unhesitatingly
remark that they are unanimous in locating
Kalinganagara on the sea coast, some times by clear
mention, sometimes by unmistakable suggestions.
The earliest reference to Kalinganagara is to be
met with in the famous Hathigumpha Inscription of
Emperor Kharavela. Both Mr. Ramamurty and Mr.
Krishnarao seem to have lost sight of the valuable
internal evidence, which this inscription renders to
the identification of Kalinganagara. King Kharavela
clearly mentions in his inscription that just after
his coronation, in the first year of his reign, he
repaired his capital Kalinganagara, of which the
gates, city-walls and buildings had been destroyed by
storm (Vata-vihata- Gopura-pakara-nivesanam
pati-Samkharayati Kalinga-Nagaram).(2) The storm
which felled down the strong royal gate, city-walls
(i.e., fort-walls) and buildings, must have been a
violent one. This undoubtedly proves the metropolitan
city being situated on the sea-side as such furious
hurricanes are only commonly experienced in seaport
towns on the east-coast. I believe, the writers know
very well a great hurricane, which blew over
Kalingapatam in 1924 and levelled to the ground most
of the houses of the locality. I am sure, the village
of Mukhalingam situated far from the sea in the
interior had never been damaged by any storm of
1. Mr. Krishnarao believes without ground that
Kalinganagar has been shortened into Nagar. We
have no proof that other capitals of Kalinga like
Dantapura, Simhapura had ever been abbreviated
into Pura only.
2. Vide Mr. Jayaswal's edition of the Hathigumpha
Inscription, J.B.O.R.S Vol III, pt. IV, p.454, and
his further readings in the same journal.
p. 628
this description. Further the name 'Kharavela'
suggests its intimate connection with the sea or
ocean. Mr. Jayaswal has rightly interpreted the word
"Kharavela" or Ksaravela meaning the 'Ocean,' lit.
"one, whose waves are brackish.(1)" The word Vela
means 'a coast' and kshara means 'saline.' Indeed the
saline coast and the saline water in Kalingapatam are
the first thing which strikes a visitor there. (2)
It is very strange to notice that Mr. Krishnarao,
evidently a Sanskrit scholar, has tried to brush away
the evidence of the Raghuvamsa, bearing upon the
sea-side capital of the Kalinga king. It is difficult
to follow his argument that as the date of Kalidasa
is yet uncertain, his references to geographical
places should also be regarded as uncertain. What has
Kalidasa's date to do with his descriptions? So far
as I know that the accuracy of Kalidas's geographical
knowledge of India has never been challanged by any
other scholar. On the contrary, his references to
peoples and places have been vastly utilized by
scholars for determining many historical facts. The
anterior limit and the posterior limit of his time
have been established beyond all possible doubts. He
either flourished in the first century B.C. or in the
reign of Chandragupta II or his successor, i e., in
the fourth or fifth century A.D. In either case,
specially in the former, he was nearest in time to
Bharavela and was expected to know much of the
situation of Kalinganagara.(3) The descriptions of
Kalidasa regarding the Kalinga capital cannot be
easily misunderstood. In connection of
1. J.B.O.R.S., Vol III, part IV, p. 434.
2. The environment in most cases influences a man's
life. I met a gentlemantlemen in Calingpatam, who
eats cocoanuts so excessively that he goes so far
as to call himself a Kobrikai or cocoanut itself.
Curiously enough I find in Buddhist litt. the name
of a king Narikera of Kalinga. Presumably, the
name was derived from Nalikela (cccoanut) so
common on the east coast. See "Manual of
Buddhism," p.55.
3. In the time of Samudragupta, the king of Kaling
was Damana, whose capital was at Erandpalla
identified with Erandol near Chicacole. Thus,
Kalidasa's descriptions of Kalinga capital applies
more to Kharavela's Kalinganagar than to
Erandapalla far from the sea.
p. 629
Indumati's Svayamvara, Sunanda, her companion, took
the royal princes to the king of Kalinga, named
Hemangada and described him as the ruler of a kingdom
of which the Mahendra Hill and the sea were the two
natural boundaries. The place is described as being
just on the sea-beach. "......The sea itself, the
waves of which are seen from the windows of his
palace, and the deep resounding roars of which
surpass the sound of the watch-drum being close at
hand, awakes him as it were, when slept in his
palace-room. Sport, O Princess, with this king on the
sea-shore, where the palm-trees grove make a rustling
noise." (1)
This is a clear proof of the sea-side capital of
the king of Kalinga as Kalidasa knew of it. If If
were a solitary instance in this respect, we would
have ignored it. But all the references to the
Kalinga capital as found in different Sanskrit books
speak the same thing, i.e., the situation of the
capital on the sea and therefore, emphatically
confirm the correctness of Kalidasa's description.
We read in the Dasakumara-Carita, (the Kalinga
capital has been mentioned as Kalinganagara. Mention
is made of the Kalinga-Raja named Karddana, as
amusing himself with his friends and family in a
sportive party on the sea-beach(2).
The reference to Kalinga in the Mahabharata is
equally illuminating. Arjuna entering the
Kalinga-gate (Kalinga- Rastra-Dvara) came to the
sea-side. Thence, returning, he went to the Mahendra
Hill.(3)
1. Raghuva msa, Canto VI, verses 56, 57.
p. 630
The proximity of Kalingon or Kalinganagara to the
sea is also referred to by the description of Pliny
and thus identity of Kalinganagara with the
Kalingapatam can once more be established: We read in
Pliny:
"To the south, the territory of the Calinga
extended as far as the promontory of Calingon and the
town Dandagula which is said to be 625 Roman miles
(or 524 British miles) from the mouth of the
Ganges."(4)
Measuring the distance in a map from the mouth of
the Ganges to Kalingapatam, I found that Kalingapatam
truly answers to the distance given by Pliny.
Strangely enough, Mr. Krishnarao, who seeks the site
of Kalinganagara elsewhere gives his doubtless
conclusion on the same point. His words may be quoted
here:
"Calingon has certainly more similarity to
Kalingon or Kalingapatam and likewise Dandaguta to
Dandabura than to any other names known to us
........... We may, therefore, assume with much
probability that Calingon represents the modern town
of Kalingapatam as it was said to be on the
projection of land at the mouth of a large river,"
which might be taken to be the river Vamsadhara. Thus
it is easy to see that Kalidasa never, by a stretch
of his poetic imagination, brought the sea nearer the
city than it really was,
Dasakumara, VII.
3. The Mahabhakata, Ad i Parvan, Ch. 215.
4. Cunningham's "Ancient Geography of India." Edited
by Prof.
S. Majumdar, p.592, older edition pp. 515, 549,
p. 631
(Krishnarao) but very correctly located the capital,
the existence of which has been so strikingly vouched
for by the account of the classical writer Pliny.
Let us now turn from literature to the
description of the capital Kalinganagara as
unanimously afforded by the copperplate inscriptions
of the Gangeya Kings. We read in the Achyutapuram
grant of Indravarman (Raja-Simha, 7th century A.D.)
(1) the Chicacole plates of Devendravarman,(2) the
Parlakemdi grant of Indravarman, (3) the Parlakemidi
plates of the time of Vajrahasta (4) the Alamanda
plates of Ananta-arman, (5) the Vizagapatam
copper-plate grant of Devendra arman, (6) the
victorious Kalinga-nagara (the issuing place of the
charter) is regularly described as Sarvartu-ramaniya
or Sarvarthu-Sukha-ramaniya, i.e., pleasant in all
seasons. This passage is of importance as
emphatically calling our attention to the pleasant
and temperate climate of the capital as held by the
Gangeya Kings. What other place except Kalingapatam,
by its name and moderate climate can satisfy this
condition? Mukhalingam being Kalinganagara of these
grants is out of the question, as such pleasantness
of climate is unfortunately denied to the whole area
of Parlakemidi which suffers from
1. Edited by Hultzsch, Epi. Indi., Vol. III, pp. 127.
2. Ibid "Om, Hail! From the victorious city of Kalinga,
which is pleasant on account of the simultaneous
existence of the comforts of all seasons."
3. Edited by Fleet, Indian Antiquary, XVI, pp. 131:
According to Fleet, Hultzsch, Keilhorn and
Sewell, "The Kalinganagar that is mentioned in lines
1--10, is the modern Kalingapatam, a well-known town
in the Ganjam District, at the mouth of the
Vamsadhara river about, 16 miles north of
Chicacole.''
4. Edited by Keilhorn, Epi. Ind., III, p. 220. He
translates the repeated passage "Kalinganagar
which is charming with delights of all seasons."
5. Edited by Fleet, Ind. Ant., Vol. XVIII, p. 143.
p. 633
the sultry heat of the summer, tedious rains of the
rainy season and the comparative rigour of the
winter.
Further, the Chicacole grant of Indra-Varman,
dated the 146th year, puts the Identification beyond
all chances of mis-conceptions. It reads "Svasti!
Jaladhi-Jula-taranga-Kara-Pallavangita-Sakala-Kalinga
vanitala-t i l a k a m a n a t Vijaya Kalinganagarat
"meaning 'Hail! From the victorious city of Kaling-
anagara, which is the ornament of all the land Kalinga,
which is embraced by the fingers of waves of the water
of the ocean.' (1)
Against the identification of Kalingapatam as the
ancient site, Mr. Krishnarao has raised two
groundless doubts. He means to say that 'Pattana'
cannot mean a 'city' or 'capital' and is without
exception associated with seaport towns, such as,
Nagapattana, Visakhapattana, Masulipattana, etc. Such
view is untenable. I should immediately cite the case
of Seringapatam, (2) which is not a seaport town.
Again he finds not a single town, the name of which
ends with the appellation nagara. We have innumerable
instances to quote that the names of the sea-side
towns and with the terminations of puram, which is
equivalent to the word Nagara, i.e., Gopalpur, Puri,
Laichanpur, Chandpur, Narasapur, and so on.
In Sanskrit the words Nagara, Pattana, and Pura
are synonymous. No Sanskrit dictionary nor a book of
literature can say anything on this point to the
contrary. According to some authorities, however, a
nagara means a large town in the midst of 800
villages and a pattana is a place, where a king with
his retinue resides.(3) This explanation adds a
special support
1. The Ganga grant of Indravarman (146th year). Edited
by Fleet, Ind. Ant, Vol. XIII, p. 143.
2. Other cases of pattana having no connection with
sea are Patana (Anhalwarapattan in N. Baroda).
Mungipattana, 28 miles S.-W. of Aurangabad, it was
the capital of Salivahana.
3. Bhrataa, quoted in Sabda-Kalpadruma.
p. 633
to my points namely, that Kalingapattana was the site
of a royal city. In Kalingapatam, there is a village
which bears the singnificant name 'Kalingapatam' and
it is there that the old sites were first explored by
me.
While treating the question of the identification
of Kalinganagara, it has been rather rash on the part
of Mr. Krishnarao to remark point blank that
'Kalingapatam has no traces of antiquity,' Evidently,
he never visited Kalingapatam in search of its
antiquities and ancient cites, even if he did in
vain, he never consulted the official reports, which
would have altered his opinion. Sewell listing the
antiquities of the Madras Presidency wrote,
"Calingapatam--Seaport at the mouth of the Vamsadhara
river......In a thatched shed, in a field are five
stone-images worshipped by Sivites, reputed to be of
great age .....A mound near the present town are
plainly the site of the ancient city and small gold
coins are sometimes found there. Specimens have been
sent but I am unable to identify
them.''(1)
Last summer, while in Calingapatam, I had the
same mound excavated for the first time and the
result brought to light the remains of a buried city.
This place is locally known Kota-Dibba which means 'a
mound of a fort.' The other old mound I explored by
trial excavations is called Jagati metta and it
proved to be an elevated basement for hot-air baths
as described in Buddhist books. Both these sites have
been locally regarded as very ancient, the former
extending over many acres of land with an elevated
surface, has lain fallow for many centuries. No
plantation or cultivation has ever been attempted on
the ground. Every year after the rains ancient
gold-coins are found by the villagers of the village
called Calingapatam. I had occasion of examining
three or four of such coins and I found, they bore
clear letters of early Gupta or Kushan script. In
last June, I continued an excavation there for about
a month
1. List of the Antiquarian remains in the Presidency
of Madras (Arch. Sur. of Southern India), by R.
Sewell, Vol. I, p.7 cf., the Imperial Gazetteer
of India Vol. VII (second edition), p. 330, "after
rain, a mound which covers the site of the old
city gives up small gold coins of great age."
p. 634
and found from the different layers of the trial
trenches dug by us, ancient pottery, glazed tiles.
porcelain pieces and long lines of walls made of
Mauryan bricks with large dimensions. All these finds
and the general outlook of the excavated sites prove
beyond doubt the existence of a capital or fortified
city over many ages probably from the time of
Kharavela down to the time of the Gangeya Kings.