Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s3.t1.1

c20.s3.t1.1

The cave at Alagarmalai, about 20 km. north-east of Madurai, is located at a considerable height on the hill range and can be reached only after a stiff climb (Fig. 1.⁵).¹¹ The cave is spacious and has a number of stone beds carved on the rocky floor and a deep pool in one corner. The ceiling of the cave is quite high and it is very difficult to read or copy the inscriptions engraved at an inaccessible height on the brow of the cave. The inscriptions were copied only in 1910, two years after they were discovered, when a high wooden scaffolding was erected with the help of the village headman.¹ After a long interval, the Alagarmalai inscriptions were copied again by the ASI in 1963-64 when two more inscriptions were noticed on the brow of the cave.²