हिंदीOn this day
Chitra Katha

KharavelaLord of Kalinga

In his twelfth regnal year, says the Hathigumpha inscription at Udayagiri, he marched on Magadha, made its king bow and brought home the Kalinga Jina image a Nanda king had carried off.

1st century BCE (dating debated, 2nd–1st century BCE)

The full life
1Known almost entirely from the Hathigumpha inscription, Udayagiri, Odisha.Kharavela
2The inscription opens with the Jain salutation to Arhats and Siddhas.Kharavela
3Recovered the Kalinga Jina image taken by a Nanda king.Kharavela
4Built the Jain cave dwellings of Udayagiri–Khandagiri.Kharavela · The people
5Crowned at 24, after nine years as yuvaraja (Hathigumpha).Kharavela · The people
6James Prinsep published the first reading of the Hathigumpha text in 1837.Kharavela

Sources for these facts

  • Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela
  • Epigraphia Indica XX (Jayaswal and Banerji edition)

वीरभोग्या वसुन्धरा

The pictures are drawn for this site; faces, clothes and scenes are an illustration, not a portrait. Each caption is a fact from the hero’s page.