Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s6.t2.4

c20.s6.t2.4

It is a measure of the progress made in understanding Tamil-Brāhmī inscriptions that while the earliest discoveries made around the beginning of the century baffled the most experienced epigraphists of the day, the Mannarkoil inscriptions discovered at the end of the century were immediately deciphered by the TNSA, and the estampages were published with full and accurate translation of the texts in the local newspapers within days of the discovery.⁵ My personal voyage of discovery of the Tamil-Brāhmī cave inscriptions which began on 11th February 1962 at Marukaltalai ended 38 years later on 30th December 2000 at Mannarkoil, the two southernmost sites both in Tirunelveli District.⁶