File:5th or 6th century Vadathika Cave Inscription, Sanskrit, Shaivism, Anantavarman, Gupta script, Ancient Om symbol 2.jpg

English: This is a Sanskrit inscription in Gupta script (parent of Devanagari) attributed to king Anantavarman. It was first published by Wilkins in 1790, eye-copied by Kittoe (above copy), transliterated by Rajendralal Mitra, translated with interpolations and interpretations by Fleet, restudied by Kielhorn in 1891.

This is a Shaivism inscription based on the content (see Fleet, 1888), and variously dated between 450 CE to late 6th-century. The caves themselves are dated to 3rd-century BCE, first used by the Ajivikas tradition monks, later by the Buddhist monks, and thereafter the Hindu monks. After the 14th-century, the area was occupied by Muslims as evidenced by many inscribed tombs nearby.

The inscription states that king Anantavarman consecrated an image of Shiva and Parvati in this cave. Fleet states it is likely that the image was an Ardhanarishvara (half Shiva, half Parvati).

This is a photograph of a personal copy of plates published by John Fleet in 1888, with Inscriptions Of The Early Gupta Kings And Their Successors, as a part of the Corpus Inscriptionum Indicarum series, Vol. 3. The inscriptions are 2-D art created in or before the 5th-century CE. The publication date of the photographic plates in 1888 by Fleet (d. 1917) makes the work qualify for the PD-Art-100-70 guidelines. Any rights I have, I herewith donate to wikimedia under Creative Commons 4.0 license.