Simhachalam Sculpture Tells Tale Of King Who Defeated Delhi Sultans
After ascending the throne of Kalinga, King Narasimha Deva marched towards Bengal. His first seizure had been Laknori (Bengal) in 1243: Team of Researchers on Culture and Heritage (TORCH) Member
VISAKHAPATNAM: A sculpture at the historic Simhachalam Temple in Visakhapatnam has brought to light the extraordinary military achievements of Langula Narasimha Deva – I, the 13th-Century ruler who built the iconic Konark Temple and reconstructed the Simhachalam and Sri Kurmam temples. The tablet narrates how Narasimha Deva – I successfully defended the Kalinga kingdom against Muslim invasions for over a century.
Sai Kumar Kethineedi, a member of TORCH (Team of Researchers on Culture and Heritage), told this correspondent that among the Simhachalam Temple’s artworks is a sculpture. It depicts an elephant crushing a horse beneath its massive leg during a battle. According to Sai Kumar, this serves as a powerful symbolic representation of the Gajapati (Lord of Elephants) conquering the Hayapati (Lord of Horses) – titles that referred to Odishan and Muslim rulers respectively of that era.
He said Narasimha Deva bore the title Yavana Bani Ballava and Hamira Mana Mardhana, meaning conqueror of Muslim kingdom and vanquisher of Bengal Muslim armies.
The TORCH member said “After ascending the throne of Kalinga, King Narasimha Deva marched towards Bengal. His first seizure had been Laknori (Bengal) in 1243. With his guerrilla war tactics, he defeated Muslim armies and slaughtered their forces. This march of Narsimha Deva on Muslim forces is depicted on the walls of Ananta Vasudeva Temple in Bhubaneswar.
There is a narrative – Radha Varendra Yabani Nayanjanaasru, Puriya Dur Binibesita Kalima Srihi, Tadh Bipralamm Karayadrabhuta Nistaranga, Gangapi Nunamamuna Yamunadhunavut – meaning Ganga herself got blackened to a great extent by the flood of tears from the eyes of Yavanis (Muslim women) of Radha and Varendra (West and North Bengal), whose husbands had been killed by Narasimha’s army.
In the battle of Umradhan from 1247 to 1250, Narasimha Deva fought battles with the Delhi Sultanate and subdued them, though he lost his brother-in-law Permandi Deva in one of the battles. As a result, no Muslim ruler ever tried to invade Kalinga at least for the next 100 years.
Significantly, there is no record of any direct Muslim invasion of Odishan territory for at least the next hundred years, due to Narasimha Deva I’s aggressive military expeditions over Bengal.
The king used the entire gold collected from the Muslim rulers to fund building of the Konark and Ananta Vasudeva temples, apart from reconstructing the Simhachalam and Srikurmam temples.
Importantly, Narasimha Deva's war against Muslims has been incorporated in the NCERT book for Class Eight students across the country.