The Kurmanatha temple (Vishnu as the tortoise) near the Vamsadhara mouth is the densest single body of Eastern Ganga inscriptions in the south of Kalinga (inscriptions from the eleventh century onward: Srikurmam article, read).
Anantavarman Chodaganga re-established it as a Vaishnava foundation (no date on the page), a part of the Ganga turn away from Shaivism that produced Puri; a later inscription of 1281 credits Ramanuja with the restoration under Chodaganga's influence. Anangabhima Deva built the pradakshina mandapa (undated; if the third of the name, 1211-38, it is later than 1200).
Who holds it
- Title
- Temple trustees of Kurmanatha
- Since
- not pinned
- Born
- not known
- Confidence
- low
No head is named in any source we read.
What it holds
- The temple and its endowments
How things stand that morning
A Ganga royal foundation, quiet.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Srikurmam article (read) gives these points; its dates are weak.
Primary sources for Eastern Gangas
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
- Inscriptions of Bengal, vol. 3, Various (the Sena kings' chanceries), edited by N. G. Majumdar (copper plates of the 10th to early 13th centuries; edited 1929). The one-volume edition of the Sena copper plates, the main documentary evidence for Bengal around 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Indica: inscriptions of the Chandelas, Paramaras, Gahadavalas, Chaulukyas, Senas and Eastern Gangas, Various (edited for the Archaeological Survey of India by J. Burgess, E. Hultzsch, F. Kielhorn, Sten Konow, F. W. Thomas and successors) (inscriptions of the 1180s to 1210s; the series ran from 1892). The main record series for the Hindu kingdoms of northern India around 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. Read online
- The Song of Govinda, Jayadeva (late 12th century, by tradition at the court of Lakshmanasena of Bengal). A literary witness, not a chronicle. Read online
Sources and studies
- Wikipedia: Srikurmam (read this session)
- Wikipedia: Eastern Ganga dynasty (read this session)
- Wikipedia: Anangabhima Deva III (read this session)
- OMNIA board notes for this place (a lead only, checked against the sources above)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.