An inscription written in Kannada and Sanskrit and said to be of 10th century A.D. Kadamba period has been discovered in the Mahadeva temple at Cacoda in southern Goa.
T. Murugeshi, a retired associate professor of ancient history and archaeology, Mulki Sundar Ram Shetty College, Shirva in Udupi district, studied the inscription. According to Mr. Murugeshi, its epigraph is engraved in Kannada and Nagari characters.
He states: “… 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 fulfil his father’s desire of capturing a gopura of 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…”
Mr. Murugeshi said that the Kadambas of Goa were the subordinates of Chalukyas of Kalyana. Chalukyan emperor Tailapa II appointed Kadamba Shasthadeva as mahamandaleshwara of Goa for his help in overthrowing the Rashtrakutas. Kadamba Shasthadeva conquered the city of Chandavara from the Shilaharas in 960 A.D. Later, he conquered the port of Gopakapattana (present Goa). Gundayya, the son of Talara Nevayya, may have participated in this battle, and won the port at the cost of his life.
His father may have erected a memorial stone with the inscription in the temple of Mahadev of Cacoda to commemorate the heroic fight of his son.
Rajendra Kerkar, an environmentalist of Goa, found the inscription and informed Mr. Murugeshi.
“I am thankful to Dr. Kerkar, Munirathana Reddy, Director (Epigraphy), and Nagarajappa, Assistant Epigraphist of ASI, Mysuru, and R.K. Manipal, a Kannada scholar of Udupi, for their help in reading and interpreting the inscription,” Mr. Murugeshi said.
