Page:A Family History of Venkatagiri Rajas.djvu/117

 ordered that the Matla Nishan should be bordered red and the same observance reported to the Raja.

Religious. — Those being days of Aurangzib's destruction of the Hindu temples and idols, a pious man of Benares had a dream that he was ordained by God Siva to take a particular idol of His, lying hidden in the Ganges to Venkatagiri, and hand it over to His devoted follower the Rajah. Next morning when the pious man awoke and entered the Ganges to have his daily bath, he came across, to his great surprise, the same idol at the appointed place. So he picked it up and travelled with it to Venkatagiri in obedience to the Divine Precept. The same night the Rajah also had a similar dream at Venkatagiri that His Almighty Siva, told him about the Brahmin and his arrival with the idol, advised him to build a temple in his name, and promised him and his descendants all glory,