An inscription dating back to the Vijayanagara period has been found at Elluru Santegadde near Kollur in Udupi district.
In a press release issued here on Tuesday, T. Murugeshi, head of the Department of History and Archaeology, MSRS College, Shirva, said the inscription belonged to the Sangama dynasty of the Vijayanagar empire. It begins with an invocation of Lord Ganesh and is written in 1275 of the Saka era, which corresponds to 1353 A.D. The writing is in Kannada script and has 24 lines. It refers to Veera Bukkanna Odiya, who was Bukka I, with the usual epithets such as ‘Ariraya Vibhada’ and ‘Bhasege tappada rayara ganda’. Interestingly, the epigraph states that Maleya Danayka was Prime Minister under Bukka I. Tamma Hegade of Maramundi and Tamma Hegade of Edava Kolli were mentioned as two ‘mandalikas’ (subordinate rulers) in the inscription. It appears to be a donation and records a donation to the worship of God Kotishvara.
This inscription is one of the earliest of the Vijayanagar period discovered in the Kollur region.