News Digest

Summary

A rare Tamil Brāhmī inscription, dated to the 3rd century B.C.E., was discovered in Arittapatti village, Melur Taluk, Madurai district, by a team of epigraphists from the State Archaeological Survey comprising P. Rajendran, V. Vedachalam, C. Santhalingam, and R. Jayaraman. The find was reported by The Hindu newspaper. The inscription, found engraved in a cave just four feet from a 1971-discovered Brāhmī inscription, runs 3.10 meters in a single line of 33 characters. It reads: "Ilanjiy vel mapparavan makan emayavan naimuzhaukal kotupithavan" Translated, it states: “Emayavan, son of Mapparavan, Chief of Ilanji, has caused the carving of this auspicious cave.” i) Ilanji refers to a place (possibly the one near Courtallam), and vel denotes a chieftain. ii) Paravar refers to the coastal people of Tamil Nadu, especially the southern districts. iii) Nalmuzhaukal means an “auspicious cave,” also found in earlier inscriptions such as at Varichiyur and in Sangam literature like Madurai Kanchi. iv) Historical records (including the Velvikudi copper plates) suggest that the Paravars, likely including this chieftain, were subordinate coastal chiefs under the Pandyas of the Sangam period. The script shares orthographic features with the Bhattiprolu casket inscriptions from Andhra Pradesh, such as the use of long strokes for short consonants, confirming its early date. Its stylistic similarity to the Mangulam inscriptions also supports the 3rd century B.C.E. attribution. The article references the book Jaina Inscriptions in Tamil Nadu (pp. 159–160) by Eakambaranathan and Sivaprakasam, which lists two other Jain inscriptions from the same site: i) A 2nd–1st century B.C.E. Tamil Brāhmī inscription on the brow of the cavern at Kañchanamali hill, mentioning Chief Chalyan Atanan Voḷiyan of Nelveli (modern Tirunelveli). ii) A 9th-century C.E. Tamil Vattezhuttu inscription found below a Jain Tirthankara idol on the same hill, noting that the idol was consecrated by karanattār (accountants) of Nerkodu, inspired by the Jain saint Ajanandi. The Vāṇiyakkudi community was responsible for safeguarding the shrine.