Category:Kanihara Rock Inscriptions, Kangra valley

Khanyara Rock Inscription, Kangra valley 

1st to 2nd century Brahmi and Kharoshthi inscriptions, Himachal Pradesh
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Instance of	inscription
Location	Khaniyara, Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh, India
Maintained by	Archaeological Survey of India, Shimla circle
Heritage designation	Monument of National Importance
32° 12′ 28.92″ N, 76° 20′ 51.84″ E
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The Kanihara rock inscriptions, also referred to as Khanyara or Kanhiara inscriptions, are two line ancient inscriptions found in Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Each line is in a different ancient Indian alphabet. It is dated to the 1st to 2nd century CE based on script characteristics. This inscription is often studied together with the Pathiar rock inscription of Himachal Pradesh, which too is a two line inscription in the same two alphabets. Both also have auspicious symbols of Indian culture such as the swastika.

The two lines of Kanihara rock inscriptions say the same, but for an extra word, according to the Indologist Ph Vogel. In Kharoshthi (upper line, read from right to left), it reads "Krishamyasasa arama"; the line in Brahmi (lower line, reads left to right), it reads "Krishnayasasya arama medangisya". If we ignore the extra word, both translate to "the garden of Krishnayasas". The extra word is odd, as it translates to "fat body" – it may have been a corpulent graffiti added by someone. The alternate theory is that Medangisya may have been a name, just like the extra word in the Pathiar inscription.

The word "arama" has seen scholarly dispute, with Indologists such as Cunningham translating it as monastery. However, excavations near here and Kangra valley have yielded no evidence of any ancient vihara such as those found in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, Nepal and other regions of India. When considered with the nearby Pathiar rock inscription, the translation to "garden" is currently the most accepted scholarly interpretation.

The cultural significance of the Kanihara rock inscription is that it attests to existence of community gardens in ancient India.

A replica of the original rock and inscription is also present in Kangra Fort museum.

This is a category about ASI monument number N-HP-21.