lines of Sanskrit in old Chalukyan script. It is on a stone set as a part of the east outer wall of the Meguti temple, with the text covering about 4.75 feet by 2 feet surface. The letters are between 0.5 to 0.62 inches in height. The stylistic difference suggests that the 18th and 19th lines were corruptions added later, and are not of Ravikirti. The Aihole inscription is in Sanskrit language, all in verse, using classic chhandas (meters, Sanskrit prosody). The 17 original lines consist of 37 verses. The meters deployed include the standard shlokas in 7 verses, 2 in aupachchhandasika, 3 in arya, 4 of vasantatilaka, 5 in malini, 3 in sardulavikridita, and all other verses deploy other distinct types of chandas each, such as upajati, indravajra, vamsastha, and others. The rules of Sanskrit meters are accurately followed in the Aihole inscription, which suggests that the early 7th-century Ravikirti was well trained in classical Sanskrit tradition. The inscription is a prashasti. It weaves mythologies and exaggerates. The author compares his patron king Pulakesin II to legends, and compares himself to some of the greatest Sanskrit poets such Kalidasa and Bharavi – revered in the Hindu tradition. Yet, the inscription borrows phrases from Kalidasa's influential work, in the fashion of some of the famous 6th and 7th-century inscriptions found in Nagarjuni hills, in Bodh-Gaya, and one of the earliest known inscriptions in Cambodia. Further, in the Aihole inscription, Ravikirti borrows and builds upon several additional verses found in Raghuvaṃśa of Kalidasa and the Kirātārjunīya of Bharavi – famed works of Hindu Vishnu and Shiva traditions respectively. To his credit, Ravikirti credits these authors by naming them indirectly in his Aihole inscription, by calling himself as good as them. According to Kielhorn, this is exaggeration, but the purity of the Sanskrit and the poetic flourish of Ravikriti's composition per the alamkara-sastras does show that he was "in the very front rank of court-poets and writers of prashastis" of his times. According to Richard Salomon, the Aihole inscription excels in its grammatical correctness and literary polish, just like many other early Sanskrit inscriptions such as the Allahabad inscription and Deopara inscription. The Aihole inscription is a Jain inscription. It is an integral part of the Meguti Jain temple, and announces the completion of the Meguti Jain temple. The inscription itself opens with the standard Jain salutations to Jinendra in verse 1.