Nrupatunga

The Story

Amoghavarsha ascended the Rashtrakuta throne in the early ninth century and ruled for over sixty years from the capital Manyakheta, in present-day Karnataka. His empire stretched across the Deccan, and his long, peaceful reign made it one of the richest states of the age — visited by traders and ambassadors from Arabia and Persia.

He was a poet-emperor: he is credited with a part of the Kavirajamarga, the first extant work of literary criticism in the Kannada language, which declares Kannada to be a great language 'between the Kaveri and the Godavari'. He was a devout patron of the Jain faith and of the scholars of every religion of his realm.

The crowning work of his dynasty's patronage was the great Kailasa temple at Ellora, carved from a single rock, which reached its glory under his house. He is remembered as the gentle emperor — a Jain king who ruled with justice, wrote poetry, and gave his people a golden age.