by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy, former Head, Department of Ancient History & Archaeology, University of Mysore
Setting up memorials has been an ancient practice in India including Karnataka. Of the large number of memorial stones found in Karnataka which are generally referred to as hero-stones (Viragallu), the more interesting and rare ones are those dedicated to pet and household animals. Of all the household animals, dog occupies a prominent place because of its faithfulness in serving the man in addition to its use in a variety of ways. In fact, often dogs are treated as a part of the family, with the exception of cows which attained an eminent position because of its sacred character. Naturally, memorials to dogs are available in greater number as compared to other animals. Some instances may be referred to here.
The most interesting memorial to a dog is from Atkur in Mandya district dated 950 AD, belonging to the Rastrakuta period. A battle was fought between the Cholas and the Rashtrakutas in which Ganga King Butuga’s general Manalera took part. The King was pleased by the valour of Manalera and the latter requested the dog Kali as a present. He was given the dog Kali. It was taken to his native place and it became his pet dog.
One day Manalera went for hunting along with his dog. Boars came to attack Manalera and on seeing this, the dog attacked the boars and saved his master’s life. But in the process the dog died of injuries sustained. Manalera was overcome with grief over the death of his pet dog Kali. He erected a huge memorial stone with a long inscription which narrated the entire incident and the heroic part played by his dog Kali. He also carved the scene of Kali fighting with the boar. Not satisfied by this, he appointed a Gorava priest to worship this memorial stone daily before taking food and made provisions for all these things. Thus Manalera elevated the dog to the level of a divinity and that is why this is considered as a rare memorial to a pet dog.
The story of other two dogs by name Dhalaga and Loga is recorded in an inscription of 971 AD from village Melagani in Kolar district. The two dogs were taken by their master for hunting in the local forest. Dhalaga killed 26 boars and Loga killed 75 boars and saved their master. Unfortunately both the dogs succumbed to the injuries. The grief-stricken master decided to erect a suitable memorial to both the dogs. He carved the entire hunting scene on a stone slab which has two friezes. The first frieze depicts the dog Loga killing 75 boars while the second frieze shows Dhalaga killing 26 boars. Thus this is a fitting sculptural memorial to the heroism of two dogs by a grateful master. Incidentally the above two instances show that naming dogs was an ancient practice and at least as old as one thousand years.
Another memorial stone from village Nelavagilu (Bangalore district) depicts vividly a hunting scene in which a hero is assisted by two dogs. One of the dogs is charging against the boar almost tearing its front portion while the other dog is shown as attacking from the top. The hero is shown as piercing the boar from his long and sharp weapon.
Yet another inscription of the eleventh century refers to Pallavagauda who took his dog named Madakesari on a hunting expedition to a forest in which the dog killed many boars but it was also killed in the encounter.
One more memorial may be referred to here: A fine memorial stone has been found in Balligave in Shimoga district. It is dated 1183 AD. It has three friezes. The bottom most frieze depicts a fight against a boar by three dogs. The dogs are shown as attacking the boar. The second panel depicts the celestial nymphs carrying the hero. The third shows the hero enjoying heavenly pleasures.
Memorial stones of other types may also be referred to now. A tiger entered into a village called Tavarekere. The people were scared of this. A hero by name Kambaladana immediately took action. He asked his pet dog to fight against the tiger. It fought bravely but was killed by the tiger. But the tiger ran away to the forest. Immediately Kambaladana erected a memorial stone in which is shown a fight between the dog and the tiger. The inscription records the heroism shown by the dog.
A dog attacking an elephant is carved on a memorial stone found in Yelahanka, Bangalore. On the upper frieze is shown the fight between the dog and the elephant and the second panel shows the death of the dog. It is interesting that the dog chose to attack a huge elephant.
Horses are generally used in battles and also as a means of transportation in the ancient period. We have a large number of memorial stones depicting soldiers sitting on horses and fighting the enemies. Even some of the hero-stones depict such scenes in sculpture. Such panels have to be carefully examined if they were really meant to be memorials to horses or soldiers sitting astride them. There are some which are really meant for horses. Kumararama of Kammatadurga was a great hero. He had a horse name Bolla to which he was greatly attached as it carried him in all types of battle-fields successfully. Naturally he developed great love and affection for this horse. There is a sculptural panel in the vicinity of Kumararama temple in which a horse is shown and this has been identified as Bolla. Thus it is a fine memorial erected by Kumararama himself to his pet horse.
There is a bronze sculpture of a horse in the temple at Bilikere in Challakere taluk of Chirtradurga. It is a representation of a horse used by the soldier Vira Chikkanna. There is another temple at Nagavageri in Kolar district. It has a bronze horse which is being worshipped by the people. A sculptural representation of a horse is seen on a boulder in the village Talaganavara in Kolar district. Obviously this is a memorial by a couple whose sculptures are seen in the same place. There are many horses carved on the boulders of Chitradurga fort and they are taken to be memorials.
Erecting memorials to cows was a common practice in ancient Karnataka. Stealing of cows became a practice of political significance. They are referred to as Gograhana. There are hundreds of such cow memorial stones in ancient and medieval Karnataka. At such times local heroes fought against the thieves and protected the cows and perhaps some of them died. In such cases memorial stones were erected with the pictures of heroes accompanied by cows. For example an inscription of 1140 AD from Shimoga states that the hero fought against the robbers, rescued the cows but he himself died. Another hero-stone from Soraba informs the sacrifice made by Kamagauda while saving the cows. Even a woman taking part in such fights is seen from a hero-stone from the village Sarakanur in 1041 AD. Lakshamma killed the miscreants who stole the cows but she died in the process.
Rarely do we find memorials to elephants also. The best example is a small silver sculpture of an elephant now kept in the Igguthappa temple at Padi in Kodagu. It has an inscription which refers to the hunting by King Lingaraja II who is described as having caught 34 elephants and 8 young ones alive. To commemorate this event, he gifted a silver image of an elephant to the temple. Thus people showed their love, affection and respect for household animals and erected memorials. This shows how they cared for the pet animals in the ancient times.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Feature Articles / by Prof. A.V. Narasimha Murthy / June 07th, 2014