Inscriptions found on stone in Soraba

SHIVAMOGGA: Officials of the department of archaeology, museums and heritage have stumbled upon two inscriptions etched on two faces of a cuboid stone, which they suspect dates back to the age of the Vijayanagara kingdom, in Kamraru village in Jade, Soraba taluk, Shivamogga district. Assistant director of department, Shivamogga Shejeshwara R confirmed the discovery.
Shejeshwara said that the most salient aspect about the stone was the disparity in the spiritual allegiance of the two inscriptions – while one was Shaivite, the other is Vaishnavite. One inscription runs into nine lines, while the other is a seven-line inscription.
The archaeologists have been able to ascertain the dominion of the actual kingdom and monarch at the time the inscriptions were engraved on the stone using a small detail on one of them. One inscription begins with the ‘Ganesha Stuthi’, which is an invocation to the elephant-headed God Ganesha, and is a eulogy to Hakati Yanchinaikar Nageyayapattanayaka, who the officials think must have been a chieftain or a person of some authority, who the inscription says passed away in 1403. The year has helped the officials confirm that Harihara II was the king of the region when the inscriptions were engraved on the stone.
The inscription on the other side of the stone contains information about an offering to God Hanumantha. “The second inscription must have been made about 150 years after the first one,” said Shejeshwara.
The inscription also mentions two plots used for the cultivation of paddy and areca, which were donated to the temple. The stone also issues a warning to people against damaging the inscriptions.
Shejeshwara said that the stone would be preserved, and would help future researchers.