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Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s7.t11: XXIX. Arachalur

Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s7.t11

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XXIX. Arachalur

c28.s7.t11.1

**85.1 *eḻutt[u]m*** 'letters also'. *eḻuttu* (n.) 'letter, writing' (D. 853). The particle *-um* 'also, too' indicates that the engraver of this inscription had also composed the adjoining musical notations. (See Nos. **86 & 87**.)

c28.s7.t11.2

Cf. LT *eḻuttu eṉappaṭuva akara mutal ṉakara iṟuvāy muppaḥtu eṉpa* 'letters are thirty in number from *a* to *ṉa*' (*Tol. Eḻu.*1); *eḻuttu uṭai naṭukal* 'memorial stone with writing' (*Aka.* 53:11; *Aiṅk.* 352:2); *akara mutala eḻuttu ellām* 'all letters (of the alphabet) begin with *a*' (*Kuṟaḷ.*1); *eḻuttu* 'alphabet' (*Tivā.* 1854; *Piṅkala.* 2125; *Cūṭā.* 9:12).

c28.s7.t11.3

Cf. (inscr.) *ōlai eḻutuvāṉ* 'one who writes on palm-leaves, a scribe' (Pulankurichi Inscrs. II. 12, ca. 5th cent. A.D.); *ivv-eḻuttu veṭṭiṉēṉ* 'I incised the letters (of the inscription)' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 90: Line 59, 8th cent. A.D.). In later inscriptions, *eḻuttu* also meant the 'signature' of a witness attesting a document.

c28.s7.t11.4

**85.2 *puṇaruttāṉ*** (v.) 'he who composed'; past participial noun, 3rd person masculine singular, from *puṇaru* (LT *puṇar*) 'to combine' (D. 4160b).

c28.s7.t11.5

**Analysis: *puṇaru* (stem) + *tt* (past tense marker) + *āṉ* (PNG suffix).**

c28.s7.t11.6

Cf. LT *puṇarttāṉ*. The verb form is treated as a participial noun rather than a finite verb as it precedes the subject in the sentence.

c28.s7.t11.7

Cf. LT *puṇartal* 'to join, unite' (*Tivā.* 1643,1722; *Piṅkala.*1971).

c28.s7.t11.8

Cf. *āru* (LT *ār*) (**114.2.b**) for another instance of the addition of the vowel *-u* to verbs ending in liquid consonants.

c28.s7.t11.9

The phrase *eḻuttum puṇaruttāṉ* (*puṇarttāṉ*) is a technical expression with specialised meaning in the fields of dance and music (T.N. Ramachandran 1962; R. Nagaswamy 1972d; K.G. Krishnan 1973-74b). It denotes the combining of syllables in a specified sequence to accompany a dance.

c28.s7.t11.10

Cf. LT *puṇarppiṟku amainta eḻuttukkaḷāl icai ceyya valla yāḻ āciriyaṉum* 'the teacher of *yāḻ* (a musical instrument) who can produce music in accordance with the syllables (*eḻuttu*) composed (*puṇarppu*) for the purpose'. (*Cilap.* 3:93-94, comm.). See Nos. **86 & 87** below for further comments.

c28.s7.t11.11

**85.3 *malai-y vaṇṇakkaṉ*** Title of a member of the Malai-Vaṇṇakkar clan.

c28.s7.t11.12

**a. *malai-y*** (n.) 'hill, mountain' (D. 4742). The term occurs here as an attribute to the name of the clan indicating the original habitat of the clan. *-y* is the paragogic suffix.

c28.s7.t11.13

Cf. LT *malai-nāṭṭiṉ* 'of the hilly country' (*Aka.* 398:25); *malai* 'mountain' (*Tivā.* 856; *Piṅkala.* 495; *Cūṭā.* 5:10-11).

c28.s7.t11.14

Cf. (inscr.) *malai mēl ce-ivitta tēva-kulam* 'temple caused to be made on the hill' (Pulankurichi Inscrs. II. 3, ca. 5th cent. A.D.); *malaināṭṭu* 'of the hilly country' (generally the western region of ancient Tamil country) (*SII.* XIV: 19, Pāṇṭiya, ca. 8th cent. A.D.).

c28.s7.t11.15

**b. vaṇṇakkaṉ** (n.) a member of the Vaṇṇakkar clan, one of the many *gōtras* into which the larger caste group of Koṅku Veḷḷāḷar is divided.

c28.s7.t11.16

Cf. LT Vaṭama Vaṇṇakkaṉ Tāmōtaraṉ-ār (author, *Puṟa.*172); Vaṇṇakkaṉ Cōrumaruṅ-Kumaraṉ-ār (author, *Naṟṟ.* 257); *vaṇṇakka-k-kōttiraṉ nallavaṉ vāḻ koṅku-maṇṭalamē* 'Hail Koṅku-Maṇṭalam where lives Nallavaṉ of the Vaṇṇakkar clan' (*Vāla. Koṅkumaṇṭala.*: 100). In these names, *vaṇṇakkaṉ* appears to indicate the name of the clan.

c28.s7.t11.17

Cf. (inscr.) *vaṇṇakka cāttaṉ-ār*, *vaṇṇakka kaṭaiyaṉ-ār*, 'personal names of men belonging to the Vaṇṇakkar clan' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 302 & 306 respectively, ca. 8th cent. A.D.).

c28.s7.t11.18

The term *vaṇṇakkar* also denotes several professional groups:

c28.s7.t11.19

(i) A coin or gem-tester or assayer. Cf. *vaṇṇakkaṉ kāṇattai nīlam eṉṟalum* 'Vaṇṇakkaṉ identifying a gem as *nīlam*' (*Tol. Col.* 17, comm., Cēṉā.).

c28.s7.t11.20

(ii) A Notary Public with authority to attest sale-deeds of lands as mentioned in medieval inscriptions (S. Rajagopal 1991; S. Swaminathan 1995).

c28.s7.t11.21

(iii) The manager or executive officer of a Hindu temple in the Tamil regions of Sri Lanka (M. Mahadevan 1994: pp. 67-97).

c28.s7.t11.22

As for as the present inscription is concerned, it seems best to interpret ***malai-y vaṇṇakkaṉ*** as a clan name.

c28.s7.t11.23

***tē[va]ṉ [c]ā[tta]ṉ*** N. of the composer of the two adjoining musical inscriptions (Nos. **86** & **87**).

c28.s7.t11.24

**a. tēvaṉ** 'a personal name'. See **84.4.d.**

c28.s7.t11.25

**b. cāttaṉ** 'a personal name'. See **55.5.d.**

c28.s7.t11.26

These two inscriptions are charts of musical notations composed of individual letters (syllables) engraved on either side of the central inscription (No. **85**). The charts are arranged in a square format, each with five rows and five columns. The chart at left (No. **86**) is made up of the syllables ***ta***, ***tā***, ***tē*** and ***tai***. The chart at right (No. **87**) is made up of the syllables ***kai***, ***ta*** and ***tai***. A remarkable feature of the charts is that the syllables are arranged symmetrically in columns and rows, to read alike from either end, horizontally as well as vertically. It is this feature which has helped in the restoration of missing or damaged syllables in the two charts (especially No. **87** which is more severely damaged).

c28.s7.t11.27

The charts comprise syllables uttered in music accompanying dance. This is made clear by the expression *eḻuttum puṇaruttāṉ* in the central inscription (No. 85). The syllables are technically called *cor-kaṭṭu* accompanying the *aṭaivu* 'footwork' in dancing. (Cf. *aṭaivu* in *Tamiḻ icai kalai kaḷañciyam*, vol.I, 1992).

c28.s7.t11.28

Aṭiyārkkunallār, the learned commentator on *Cilappatikāram*, refers to four modes of graphic (pictorial) representations of *pālai* (musical notes) including *vaṭṭa-p-pālai* and *catura-p-pālai* (the circular and square forms respectively) (*Cilap.* 17: 13, comm.) He describes the *vaṭṭa-p-pālai* referred to in the text he is commenting on. (Diagrams of *vaṭṭa-p-pālai* based on this commentary are given in S. Ramanathan 1979: Chap. 1.) Perhaps the Arachalur musical charts may be connected with the *catura-p-pālai* mentioned but not described by Aṭiyārkkunallār in his commentary. (For data on music and dance in *Cilappatikāram*, see S. Ramanathan 1979.) See also section 4.22.2.

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