North Indian Inscriptions

BHADANA GRANT OF APARAJITA.

87 Yat=kim=api likhitaṁ yuktam=ayuktaṁ tad=aśêsham=api pramâṇa-bhûtaṁ vijñayani¹ | Tithâ² bhûyô=pi
88 vyavasthâ ch-âtra nanvavyâ vasha prativîrsha³ nagarêṇa râjakulasya arbhaṇâbhâvyârthaṁ⁴ prarmmaṇau⁵
89 ⁶shashṭhâ(shṭya)dhika-śatadvayam=anka(ṅka)tô=pi dra 260 dâtavyâṁ [||*] Maṁgala[ṁ*] mahâśrît(r)=iti ||

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No. 38.─ FOUR ANCIENT TAMIL INSCRIPTIONS

AT TIRUKKALUKKUNRAM.

BY V. VENKAYYA, M.A.

......Tirukkaulukkunram, or Pakshitîrtham as it is called in Sanskṛit, is a large village in the Chingleput district on the road on the road from Chigleput to the port of Sadras, about half-way between both. There are two temples, one in the village of Tirukkalukkunram, called Vêdagirîśvara, and another, named Bhaktavatsala, on a neighbouring hill. Of the four subjoined inscriptions, which are engraved on the wall of the strong-room (tiruv-âbharaṇa-koṭṭaḍi) of the Vêdagirîśvara temple, three were already published in Madras Christian College Magazine⁷ from pencil transcripts prepared by myself on the spot. At the suggestion of the Editor, I now republish, from inked estampages, these three inscriptions, along with a fourth, which was not yet published, but only referred to in one of my former articles.⁸

......That part of the wall where these inscriptions are found, is disfigured by a number of mason’s marks, which are notice in the footnotes to the texts. These marks consist, in most cases, of Tamil numerals, engraved probably before attempting to pull down the wall with a view to repair the temple. The numerals would indicate the order in which the stones had to be arranged while rebuilding the wall. This custom of marking is still prevalent in Southern India, as may be seen on the walls of the temples at Madura and Chidambaram, which have been lately repaired, and of the Êkâmranâtha temple at Conjeeveram, which is now undergoing repair. In these place the numerals are not cut with the chisel as at Tirukkalukkunram, but painted on the stones with tar or chunnam. The alphabet and language of the four subjoined inscriptions is Tamil ; but a number of words of Sanskṛit origin are written either wholly or partially in Grantha characters. The following is a list of such words and syllables, with the exception of two words svasti śrî, which occur at the beginning of every one of these inscriptions and are, as a matter of course, written in the Grantha alphabet.

......In A. line l, kôv=irâja, sa of kêsari, and parmma (for varma) ; l. 3, śrî-Mûlasthâna ; l. 4, Skandaśishyan ; l. 5, śiṁ of Naraśiṁga ; l. 6, rakshi ; pûrvva at the end of l. 7 ; l. 8, râjâ of râjâkkaḷ, râja and [sa]ri of Râjakêsari ; l. 9, rmma and ddharmam rakshi.

......In B. line 1, kô of kô-Pparaº ; l. 4, śrî-Mûlast⺠(for Mûlasthâº) ; l. 7, kô of kûyinaṅgai ; l. 9, ºntr-âdiº (for ºndr-âdiº), ºtha[r]mma (for ºddharmam), rakshi, and sa ; [ºbhai] at the beginning of l. 10.
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......¹ Read vijñêyam (?).
......² Read || tathâ.
......³ Read mantavyâ yathâ (?) prati-varshaṁ ; the sign of the vowel î of vîrsha is almost certainly struck out in the original.
......⁴ I am unable to suggest a proper correction, but believe arbhaṇâ to stand for arhaṇd.
......⁵ Read drammâṇi.
......⁶ This line commences in the original with śataº, and shashṭhâdhika is engraved below śatadvaya, in a separate line.
......⁷ Vol. VIII. p. 267 ff. and Vol. IX. p. 745 ff.
......⁸ ibid. Vol. IX. p. 748 f.