The Lal-Pahad rock inscription of Narasimhadeva is an eight-line Sanskrit prose epigraph executed in the Nagari script. It belongs to the reign of the Kalachuri king Narasimhadeva and is precisely dated to Wednesday, the fifth tithi of the bright fortnight of the intercalary month of Śrāvaṇa in the Kalachuri year 909, corresponding to July 2, 1158 CE.
The inscription opens with auspicious invocations and proclaims the sovereignty of the Kalacuri monarch Narasimhadeva. The primary administrative objective of the epigraph is to record the construction of a water-channel (vaha) by rāuta Ballāladevaka. He is identified as the son of maharajaputra Kayavaditya, an influential royal official associated with the village of Vadyava, serving under Narasimhadeva.
1. siddhiḥ svasti śrīḥ | paramabhaṭṭārakamahārājādhirājaparameśvaraśrī-
2. vāmadevapādānudhyāta paramabhaṭṭārakamahārājādhirājapara-
3. meśvaraparamamāheśvaratrikaliṅgādhipatinijabhujopārjjitā–
4. śvapatigajapatinarapatirājatrayādhipatya śrīmannara-
5. simhadevacaraṇāḥ || vadyavāgrāmakasya mahārā-
6. japutraśrīkayavāditya putraballāladevakasya vahaḥ |
7. samvat | 909 śrāvaṇa sudi 5 buddhe || śrīḥ ||
8. rā-uta śrībalallāladevaḥ ||
Lines 1 to 6
Success! Hail! Śrī! (There reigns) the paramabhaṭṭāraka, mahārājādhirāja, and parameśvara, the illustrious and venerable Narasimhadeva, the devout worshipper of Maheśvara, the lord of Trikaliṅga, who by his own arm has acquired the suzerainty over the three kings, namely, the lord of horses, the lord of elephants, and the lord of men, and who meditates on the feet of the paramabhaṭṭāraka, mahārājādhirāja, and parameśvara, the illustrious Vāmadeva. (There has been constructed) (this) channel of Ballāladevaka, the son of the great prince, the illustrious Kayavāditya.
Line 7
(In) the year 909, (the month) Śrāvaṇa (and) the bright (fortnight), on the (lunar) day 5, on Wednesday.
Line 8
The Rāuta, the illustrious Ballāladeva.
| Dynasty: | Kalacuri |
| Ruler: | Narasimha |
| Date: | 2nd July 1158, Wednesday (Śrāvaṇa śuddha 5, varṣa 909) |
| Place: | Lal Pahad, Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh |
| Donor: | Ballāladevaka |
| Language: | Sanskrit |
| Script: | Nāgarī |
| Nature of grant: | Public work |
| Purpose: | To officially document the construction of a water channel (vaha) |
| Provenance of inscription: | Lal Pahad, Chhindwara district, Madhya Pradesh |
| Type of Inscription: | Stone Inscription |
| Source: |
