Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s10.2

c21.s10.2

When I took up the study of the cave inscriptions in 1961, the Government Epigraphist was good enough to place a set of estampages at my disposal. After struggling with them in vain for a few months, I gave up the attempt and decided to visit the caves personally to study each inscription *in situ*. It took me five working seasons mostly in the winter months of 1962-66 to complete the first round of visits to the caves. Where the inscriptions were at inaccessible heights, ladders or scaffolding constructed from bamboo, casuarina poles or steel slotted angles were made use of to look at the inscriptions from very close quarters and to prepare transcriptions and tracings. Most of the caves were visited more than once to study the inscriptions when sunlight fell on them at different angles during the day.¹