Page:The Aristocracy of Southern India.djvu/130

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The Aristocracy of Southern India.

ago, was finished in his time at a cost of over a lakh of Rupees. He built, at a cost of more than 10,000 Rupees a temple at Kallikote, dedicating it to Balinkeswari. He excavated a tank known as Babucha Bandho spending on it 5,000 Rupees. At a cost of about Rs. 25,000, he constructed kitchens attached to the Bhubaneswar temple—one of the famous temples in India near Puri. He purchased a shamiana for Rs. 12,000 and gave it away as a present to the temple in Jagannath. In order that the revenue of a village might be used to meet the expenses of the feeding of the Vaishnavas of Puri, he purchased the village and gave it away as a gift. He established a Sanskrit school for the diffusion of vedic lore. He was a great admirer of ayurvedic medicines, and he encouraged the use of them by securing the services of competent physicians who looked to the medical wants of the people of Kallikote and also those of the surrounding villages. He had under him ten Pundits well versed in Sanskrit. He established two villages in his name and gave thei^n away as gift to poor Brahmins. They are known as "Narayana Puri;" one is in Kallikote and the other, in Atagada. The former is valued at Rs. 20,000, and the latter at 7,000. He once fed 7,000 poor people at Godavari, and gave a gift of a Rupee each; on another occasion he fed 4,000 people at Puri with a gift of Rupee each; once again he fed 4,000 people at Prayagh and gave each of them a Rupee. He performed the Agnishtom jagam at Kallikote, spending a lakh of Rupees. The then Zemindar of Atagada failed to pay the peishcush due to Government, and the estate was put to public auction when the Rajah bought it. He built a palace at Kallikote conformably to modern taste and fashion with the necessary appliances and furniture as became a Rajah. He was universally known