Religion The Western Gangas gave patronage to all the major religions of the time;
Jainism and the Hindu sects of
Shaivism,
Vedic Brahmanism and
Vaishnavism. However scholars have argued that not all Gangas kings may have given equal priority to all the faiths. Some historians believe that the Gangas were ardent Jains. However, inscriptions contradict this by providing references to
kalamukhas (staunch Shaiva ascetics),
pasupatas and
lokayatas (followers of
Pasupatha doctrine) who flourished in Gangavadi, indicating that Shaivism was also popular. King Madhava and Harivarma were devoted to cows and brahmins, King Vishnugopa was a devout
Vaishnava, Madhava III's and Avinita's inscriptions describe lavish endowments to Jain orders and temples and King Durvinita performed Vedic sacrifices prompting historians to claim he was a
Hindu. of 9th–10th century at Kambadahalli Jainism became popular in the dynasty in the 8th century when the ruler King Shivamara I constructed numerous Jain
basadis. King Butuga II and minister
Chavundaraya were staunch Jains which is evident from the construction of the
Gommateshwara monolith. Jains worshipped the twenty four
tirthankars (
Jinas) whose images were consecrated in their temples. The worship of the footprint of spiritual leaders such as those of
Bhadrabahu in
Shravanabelagola from the 10th century is considered a parallel to
Buddhism. Some brahminical influences are seen in the consecration of the Gomateshwara monolith which is the statue of
Bahubali, the son of
Tirthankar Adinatha (just as Hindus worshipped the sons of Shiva). The worship of subordinate deities such as
yaksa and
yaksi, earlier considered as mere attendants of the
tirthankars was seen from the 7th century to the 12th century. at Shravanabelagola (982–983) C.E. Vedic Brahminism was popular in the 6th and 7th centuries when inscriptions refer to grants made to
Srotriya Brahmins. These inscriptions also describe the
gotra (lineage) affiliation to royal families and their adherence of such Vedic rituals as
asvamedha (horse sacrifice) and
hiranyagarbha. Brahmins and kings enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship; rituals performed by the brahmins gave legitimacy to kings and the land grants made by kings to brahmins elevated them in society to the level of wealthy landowners. Vaishnavism however maintained a low profile and not many inscriptions describe grants towards its cause. Some Vaishnava temples were built by the Gangas such as the
Narayanaswami temples at
Nanjangud, Sattur and Hangala in modern Mysore district. The deity
Vishnu was depicted with four arms holding a conch (
sanka), discus (
cakra), mace (
gada) and lotus (
padma). From the beginning of the 8th century, patronage to Shaivism increased in every section of the society; the landed elite, landlords, assemblies (
samaya), schools of learning (
aghraharas) and minor ruling families such as the
Bana,
Nolamba and
Chalukya clans. The Shaiva temples contained a Shiva
linga in the
sanctum sanctorum along with images of the mother goddess,
Surya (Sun god) and
Nandi (a bull and attendant of Shiva) which was normally enshrined in a separate pavilion facing the sanctum. The
linga was man made and in some cases had etchings of
Ganapati (son of Shiva) and
Parvati (consort and wife of Shiva) on it.
Society , a Western Ganga feudatory, at Aralaguppe in the
Tumkur district The Western Ganga society in many ways reflected the emerging religious, political and cultural developments of those times. Women became active in local administration because Ganga kings distributed territorial responsibility to their queens such as the feudal queen Parabbaya-arasi of Kundattur and the queens of King Sripurusha, Butuga II and feudal king Permadi. Inheritance of fiscal and administrative responsibility by the son-in-law, the wife or by the daughter is evident. The position of prime minister of King Ereganga II and position of
nalgavunda (local landlord) bestowed upon Jakkiabbe, the wife of a fallen hero are examples. When Jakkiabbe took to asceticism, her daughter inherited the position. The devadasi system (
sule or courtesan) in temples was prevalent and was modelled after the structures in the royal palace. Contemporaneous literature such a
Vaddaradhane makes a mention of the chief queen (
Dharani Mahadevi) accompanied by lower ranking queens (
arasiyargal) and courtesans of the women's royal quarter (
pendarasada suleyargal). Education in the royal family was closely supervised and included such subjects as political science, elephant and horse riding, archery, medicine, poetry, grammar, drama, literature, dance, singing and use of musical instruments. By virtue of a Hindu belief that killing of a brahmin (
Bramhatya) was a sin, capital punishment was not applicable to them. Upper caste
kshatriyas (
satkshatriya) were also exempt from capital punishment due to their higher position in the caste system. Severe crimes committed were punishable by the severing of a foot or hand. Contemporary literary sources reveal up to ten castes in the
Hindu caste system; three among kshatriya, three among brahmin, two among
vaishya and two among
shudras. Family laws permitted a wife or daughter or surviving relatives of a deceased person to claim properties such as his home, land, grain, money etc. if there were no male heirs. If no claimants to the property existed, the state took possession of these properties as
Dharmadeya (charitable asset). Intercaste marriage, child marriage, marriage of a boy to maternal uncles daughter,
Svayamvara marriage (where the bride garlands her choice of a groom from among many aspirants) were all in vogue. Memorials containing
hero stones (
Viragallu) were erected for fallen heroes and the concerned family received monetary aid for maintenance of the memorial. The presence of numerous
Mahasatikals (or
Mastikal – hero stones for a woman who accepted ritual death upon the demise of her husband) indicates the popularity of
Sati among royalty. Ritual death by
sallekhana and by
jalasamadhi (drowning in water) were also practiced. Popular clothing among men was the use of two unrestricted garments, a
Dhoti as a lower garment and a plain cloth as upper garment while women wore
Saris with stitched petticoats. Turbans were popular with men of higher standing and people used umbrellas made with bamboo or reeds. Ornaments were popular among men and women and even elephants and horses were decorated. Men wore finger rings, necklaces (
honnasara and
honnagala sara), bracelets (
Kaduga) and wristlets (
Kaftkina). Women wore a nose jewel (
bottu), nose ring (
mugutti), bangles (
bale or
kankana) and various types of necklaces (
honna gante sara and
kati sutra). There existed a large and well organised network of schools for imparting higher education and these schools were known by various names such as
agraharas,
ghatikas,
brahmapura or
matha. Inscriptions mention schools of higher education at Salotgi,
Balligavi,
Talagunda,
Aihole,
Arasikere and other places.
Literature (949 C.E.), a classical Kannada composition pertaining to the Western Ganga-Rashtrakuta victory over the Chola dynasty of Tanjore in the famous
battle of Takkolam The Western Ganga rule was a period of brisk literary activity in Sanskrit and Kannada, though many of the writings are now considered extinct and are known only from references made to them. The prose, composed in lucid Kannada, was mainly meant for the common man and avoided any reference to complicated elements of Jain doctrines and philosophy. His writings seem to be influenced by the writings of his predecessor
Adikavi Pampa and contemporary
Ranna. The work narrates the legends of a total of 63 Jain proponents including twenty-four Jain
Tirthankar, twelve
Chakravartis, nine
Balabhadras, nine
Narayanas and nine
Pratinarayanas. The earliest postulated Kannada writer from this dynasty is King Durvinita of the 6th century.
Kavirajamarga of 850 CE, refers to a Durvinita as an early writer of Kannada
prose. Around 900 CE, Gunavarma I authored the Kannada works,
Shudraka and
Harivamsha. His writings are considered extinct but references to these writings are found in later years. He is known to have been patronised by King Ereganga Neetimarga II. In
Shudraka, he has favourably compared his patron to King Shudraka of ancient times. The great Kannada poet Ranna was patronised by Chavundaraya in his early literary days. Ranna's classic
Parashurama charite is considered a eulogy of his patron who held such titles as
Samara Parashurama. Other writers such as Manasiga and Chandrabhatta were known to be popular in the 10th century. In an age of classical Sanskrit literature, Madhava II (brother of King Vishnugopa) wrote a treatise
Dattaka Sutravritti which was based on an earlier work on erotics by a writer called Dattaka. A Sanskrit version of
Vaddakatha, a commentary on
Pāṇini's grammar called
Sabdavathara and a commentary on the 15th chapter of a Sanskrit work called
Kiratarjunneya by poet Bharavi (who was in Durvinita's court) are ascribed to Durvinita. King Shivamara II is known to have written
Gajamata Kalpana.
Gayachintamani and
Kshatrachudamini which were based on poet Bana's work
Kadambari were written by Hemasena's pupil Vadeebhasimha in prose style. The Ganga pillars with a conventional lion at the base and a circular shaft of the pillar on its head, the stepped
Vimana of the shrine with horizontal
mouldings and square pillars were features inherited from the Pallavas. These features are also found in structures built by their subordinates, the Banas and
Nolambas. It is the largest monolithic statue in the world. Their free standing pillars called
Mahasthambha or
Bhrahmasthambha are also considered unique, examples of which are the Brahmadeva pillar and
Tyagada Brahmadeva Pillar. At the top of the pillar whose shaft (cylindrical or octagonal) is decorated with creepers and other floral motifs is the seated
Brahma and the base of the pillar normally has engravings of important Jain personalities and inscriptions. Other important contributions are the Jain basadis' whose towers have gradually receding stories (
talas) ornamented with small models of temples. These tiny shrines have in them engravings of tirthankars (Jain saints). Semicircular windows connect the shrines and decorative
Kirtimukha (demon faces) are used at the top. The
Chavundaraya basadi built in the 10th or 11th century, Chandragupta basadi built in the 6th century and the monolithic of
Gomateshwara of 982 are the most important monuments at
Shravanabelagola. Some features were added to the Chandragupta basadi by famous Hoysala sculptor Dasoja in the 12th century. The decorative doorjambs and perforated screen windows which depict scenes from the life of King
Chandragupta Maurya are known to be his creation. The
Panchakuta Basadi at Kambadahalli (five towered Jan temple) of about 900 with a Brahmadeva pillar is an excellent example of
Dravidian art. The wall niches here are surmounted by
torana (
lintel) with carvings of floral motifs, flying divine creatures (
gandharva) and imaginary monsters (
makara) ridden by
Yaksas (attendants of saints) while the niches are occupied by images of tirthankars themselves. Other notable constructions were the
Vallimalai Jain caves and the
Seeyamangalam Jain temple during the reign of
Rachamalla II, and the 5th or 6th century Parshvanatha temple at the
Kanakagiri Jain tirth. on Chandragiri hill in
Shravanabelagola temple complex The Gangas built many Hindu temples with impressive Dravidian
gopuras containing stucco figures from the Hindu pantheon, decorated pierced screen windows which are featured in the
mantapa (hall) along with
saptamatrika carvings (seven heavenly mothers). Some well known examples are the
Arakeshvara Temple at Hole Alur, Kapileswara temple at Manne, Kolaramma temple at Kolar,
Rameshvara temple at Narasamangala,
Nagareshvara temple at Begur and the
Kallesvara temple at Aralaguppe. At Talakad they built the Maralesvara temple, the Arakesvara temple and the Patalesvara temple. Unlike the Jain temples where floral frieze decoration is common, Hindu temples were distinguished by friezes (slab of stone with decorative sculptures) illustrating episodes from the epics and
puranas.
Language (981 CE.) The Western Gangas used Kannada and Sanskrit extensively as their language of administration. Some of their inscriptions are also bilingual in these languages. In bilingual inscriptions the formulaic passages stating origin myths, genealogies, titles of Kings and benedictions tended to be in Sanskrit, while the actual terms of the grant such as information on the land or village granted, its boundaries, participation of local authorities, rights and obligations of the grantee, taxes and dues and other local concerns were in the local language. The usage of these two languages showed important changes over the centuries. During the first phase (350–725), Sanskrit copper plates dominated, indicating the initial ascendancy of the local language as a language of administration and the fact that majority of the records from this phase were
brahmadeya grants (grants to Brahmin temples). In the second phase (725–1000), lithic inscriptions in Kannada outnumbered Sanskrit copper plates, consistent with the patronage Kannada received from rich and literate Jains who used Kannada as their medium to spread the Jain faith. Recent excavations at Tumbula near Mysore have revealed a set of early
copper plate bilingual inscriptions dated 444. The genealogy of the kings of the dynasty is described in Sanskrit while Kannada was used to describe the boundary of the village. An interesting inscription discovered at Beguru near modern
Bangalore that deserves mention is the epigraph dated 890 that refers to a
Bengaluru war. This is in
Hale Kannada (old Kannada) language and is the earliest mention of the name of
Bangalore city. The Western Gangas minted coins with Kannada and Nagari legends, the most common feature on their coins was the image of an elephant on the obverse and floral petal symbols on the reverse. The Kannada legend
Bhadr, a royal umbrella or a conch shell appeared on top of the elephant image. The denominations are the
pagoda (weighing 52 grains), the
fanam weighting one tenth or one half of the
pagoda and the quarter
fanams. == Timeline ==