Recently Noticed Inscription from Lohagadwadi (Fort Lohagad), District Pune, Maharashtra, India

Abstract

In 1969 an early Jaina inscription was discovered from Pale cave, Taluka Mawal, District Pune, Maharashtra, by H.D. Sankalia and Shobhana Gokhale, Pune (1971: 67–69). It was an important discovery of an early Jaina inscription in western India. While studying the Pale inscription, both the authors had cited that “There must be many more such inscriptions, which need to be discovered.” Recently an inscription is noticed in one of the small rock-cut excavations group in fort Lohogad, Lohagadwadi by a group of trekking and exploration enthusiasts. While observing this inscription, it proposes some early characteristics of Brāhmī script. It is significant to mention that the Lohagadwadi inscription starts with ‘Namo arahaṁtānaṁ’ and the donor’s name Idarakhita. Interestingly, the inscription shows close affinity to the Pale cave inscription and proposes to be an important early inscription of Jainism in Maharashtra by the same donor mentioned in the Pale inscription. Probably, a small cave complex of Lohagadwadi, as primarily described in this article, dates back to the early rock-cut activity of Jainism in Maharashtra.