Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c20.s8.t6.22

c20.s8.t6.22

The brief inscription on the rim of a herostone at Tamatakallu near Chitradurga town in Karnataka is the northernmost Tamil inscription in Early Vaṭṭeluttu discovered so far.⁸ The herostone depicts three warriors in bas relief with an accompanying Sanskrit inscription in the Early Telugu-Kannada script. The Sanskrit inscription was published earlier by Rice⁹ who apparently did not notice the Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscription engraved inconspicuously on the rim of the herostone. Rajasekharappa who discovered the rim inscription has suggested plausibly that it is the signature of the Tamil mason and scribe who carved the herostone and engraved the Sanskrit inscription on it.¹⁰ This is a unique occurrence as none of the herostones found in the Tamil country have the signature of the mason or scribe on them. The Sanskrit inscription and the Tamil Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscription on the same herostone may be assigned to the beginning of the 6th century a.d. on palaeographic grounds.