Martur: A village in Karnataka that shaped India’s legal heritage

A 20-minute drive from Kalaburagi takes you to Martur, a small village with a population of approximately 4,000 in Shahabad taluk. It is the place where India’s celebrated jurist from ancient times, Vijnaneshwara, lived. His monumental treatise, Mitakshara, has influenced Indian jurisprudence for over nine centuries.

A 20-minute drive from Kalaburagi takes you to Martur, a small village with a population of approximately 4,000 in Shahabad taluk. It is the place where India’s celebrated jurist from ancient times, Vijnaneshwara, lived. His monumental treatise, Mitakshara, has influenced Indian jurisprudence for over nine centuries.

As recorded in a stone inscription found in the village, Emperor Vikramaditya VI, a powerful ruler of the Western Chalukya dynasty, touched the feet of the revered scholar.

Navigating through the narrow lanes of this densely populated village leads to the Sri Kalingeshwara Temple, a 1,000-year-old structure that houses Martur’s historical legacy. It was in this temple that the famous Martur stone inscription, dating back to 1123 AD, was discovered. This inscription provided the first substantial insights into the life and personality of Vijnaneshwara.

On the outskirts of the village, off Shahabad Road, stands Sri Vijnaneshwara Bhavan and Research Centre, established by Vijnaneshwara Pratishtana Trust in memory of the scholar. The inscription was shifted from Sri Kalingeshwara Temple and installed in the Bhavan which was inaugurated by the then Chief Justice of India Justice Ramesh Chandra Lahoti on December 31, 2004.

Though every law student and member of the legal fraternity in India is well aware of the Mitakshara, which is universally recognised as a cornerstone of Hindu jurisprudence, little was known about its author until the discovery of the Martur Stone Inscription in the early 20th century. The inscription provided pivotal clues about the author.

Huilgol Narayana Rao, a popular freedom fighter and playwright from Gadag, had mentioned Mitakshara in his famous poem Udayavagali Namma Cheluva Kannada Nadu. The song, which was first played at the Indian National Congress’ plenary session held in Belagavi in 1924 and presided over by Mahatma Gandhi, inspired millions of Kannadigas for the Karnataka Unification Movement and became the State Anthem in those days. The song did not mention the name of Vijnaneshwara but mentioned the text, to indicate that a Kannadiga wrote the great legal treatise.

The major initiative to shed some light on the author of Mitakshara came after the discovery of the stone inscription and the subsequent publication of an article about it by Prof. P.B. Desai, a well-known historian from Dharwad, in his journal Prachina Karnataka—Hosa Belaku (Ancient Karnataka—New Light) in 1932.