VÃÂma-rÃÂja (c. 7th century), also known as VÃÂma-deva or VÃÂma-rÃÂja-deva, was a ruler of the Kalachuri dynasty of central India.
The Sagar stone inscription of Shankaragana I and the Karitalai stone inscription of Lakshmana-rÃÂja mention VÃÂma-rÃÂja as the earliest king of the Tripuri Kalachuri dynasty. The Sagar inscription gives him the imperial titles Parama-bhattaraka MaharÃÂjadhirÃÂja Parameshvara, and states that the issuer king meditated on his feet. Generally, Indian inscriptions use the phrase "meditating on his feet" to denote the relationship between a king and his predecessor. However, several later Kalachuri inscriptions also describe the issuer kings as meditating on the feet of "VÃÂma-deva"; these include the inscriptions issued by Karna, Yashahkarna, Narasimha, Jayasimha and Vijayasimha. Some scholars, such as D. C. Sircar and V. S. Pathak, have also disputed VÃÂma-rÃÂja's identification as a king, identifying him as a religious preceptor of Kalachuri kings instead. For example, Sircar notes that according to Prithviraja Vijaya, a Kalachuri king named Sahasika offered his kingdom as guru-dakshina to the ascetic VÃÂma-deva, which may explain why inscriptions use imperial titles for him. Epigraphist V. V. Mirashi has proved such theories as untenable. Mirashi argues that the reason so many Kalachuri kings are said to have "meditated on his feet" is because he was the founder of the Tripuri Kalachuri kingdom.
The reading of the king's name in the Sagar inscription is not clear. Mirashi reads it as VÃÂma-rÃÂja-deva, identifying him with VÃÂma-deva mentioned in other Kalachuri records. Archaeologist Rai Bahadur Hiralal, the earliest scholar to refer to the inscription, read the name as "Vagha-rÃÂja". Alternative readings include "Vava-rÃÂja-deva" (D. C. Sircar), "Vapa-rÃÂja-deva" or "Va(ve)pa-rÃÂja-deva" (L. N. Rao), and "Vapa-rÃÂja-deva" (A. M. Shastri).
Mirashi dates VÃÂmarÃÂja to the 7th century, and theorizes that he originally ruled from Kalanjara. The Kahla inscription mentions that an unnamed Kalachuri prince established himself at Kalanjara, and conquered Ayomukha (modern Raebareli-Pratapgarh area); he gave the northern part of his territory to his younger brother Lakshamana-rÃÂja, who established the Sarayupara branch of the Kalachuris. Mirashi theorizes that the unnamed elder brother was VÃÂma-rÃÂja. Several Kalachuri inscriptions describe Vamadeva as devotee of Shiva (parama-mÃÂheà Âvara).
The next king of the Tripuri Kalachuri dynasty known from the inscriptions was Shankaragana I. R. K. Sharma speculates that two generations may have separated VÃÂmarÃÂja and Shankaragana I, and MayurÃÂja and Bhimata may have been the predecessors of Shankaragana I. The 10th century poet RÃÂjashekhara mentions MayurÃÂja, the author of the Sanskrit play Udattaraghava, as a Kalachuri poet; he also mentions Bhimata as the lord of Kalanjara.