Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s15.t1: 2.15.1 Aims of the expedition
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c21.s15.t1
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2.15.1 Aims of the expedition
c21.s15.t1.1
It was decided at the outset that the primary aim of the expedition would be to ascertain the exact texts as they occur on the stone, leaving aside the question of interpretation, the former being a question of fact and the latter largely a matter of opinion. In particular, special efforts were made by the team
c21.s15.t1.2
(i) to mark damaged, partly preserved or otherwise not wholly legible letters as such;
(ii) to note the loss of single letters or passages without any attempt to restore them; and
(iii) to make a special study of the letters variously read by previous investigators and determine their true values *in situ*.
c21.s15.t1.3
Each member of the team was encouraged to make his own transcription direct from the stone. Where a scaffolding had to be erected, members of the team took turns to sit on it to study and copy the inscriptions from close quarters.³ The transcripts were compared and differences, if any, settled on the spot by looking at the stone once again before leaving the site. It can now be claimed with reasonable certitude that the fidelity of the texts determined in the manner described above is beyond doubt, even though there is room for further improvement in the interpretations proposed in this volume, which are mine.
c21.s15.t1.4
³ The operation was not without risk. On the first day of our work in the Alagarmalai cave in January 1992, the scaffolding gave way throwing down Thangavelu and Vedachalam who escaped with minor injuries. Both of them reported for work on the second day unmindful of the injuries.