THE UTTARA KASI PILLAR INSCRIPTION OF GUHA

This inscription was discovered at Uttara Kasi in Tehri-Gharwal, by Pandit Chiddure Matha Virabhadra Sarma of Secunderabad (Deccan), who took an impression of it and has published some preliminary notices1. The inscription is engraved on the dhvaja stambha before the temple of Siva at the Uttara Kasi. The pillar is called a Sakti Stambha in the inscription and was erected to commemorate the victories of the ruler Guha. The pillar is now called a trisula and current legends assert that Siva’s trisula after the destruction of Tripurasura, was established in this place. 

The inscription is engraved in late Gupta characters of about the sixth century, but earlier than the Banskhera grants of Harsa. The language of the inscription is Sanskrt and the florid Kavya style of the record is reminiscent of the Allahabad inscription of Harisena and the Mehrauli inscription of Candra. The metres used are Sardula-vikridita and Sragdhara. The text begins with the symbol for Om and ends with the letter tha. 

There was a ruler named Ganesvara whose praises were sung by men and who erected the resplendant temple of Bhava, high as the peak of Himavat. This forest ruler (vanajadhipa) considering all his wealth (including amatya etc) as less than an atom and remembering the friendship of Indra, went to Sumeru with a cheerful mind. 

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