Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t9: XXXIX. Pillaiyarpatti
Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D. c28.s8.t9
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XXXIX. Pillaiyarpatti
c28.s8.t9.1
**117.1 *ekkāṭṭūru*** (P.) A comparison with similar place names in the Corpus, *erukāṭu-ūru* (52.1) and *erukāṭūr* (55.1), indicates that *ek-kāṭṭ-ūru* is probably derived from *eru-k-kāṭṭ(u)-ūru*.
c28.s8.t9.2
**a. *ek-*** Probably from *eru-k-* by contraction. See 52.1. a.
c28.s8.t9.3
**b. *kāṭṭ(u)-*** (n., obl.) from *kāṭu* (n.) 'forest, jungle'. See 52.1.b.
c28.s8.t9.4
**c. *ūru*** (n.) 'village'. See 52.1.c.
c28.s8.t9.5
**117.2 *kōṉ*** (n.) Title of the master mason. The word is joined with the preceding one with an *oṟṟu* (-*k*-). See 52.2. b for further comments.
c28.s8.t9.6
**117.3 *peruntacaṉ*** 'master mason'. His personal name is not recorded.
c28.s8.t9.7
The observation that "(this) is not a foundation inscription, but merely the name of some person" (K.R. Srinivasan 1985: p. 7) was apparently made before the decipherment of the inscription. The expression *peruntacaṉ* (*peruntaccaṉ*) 'master mason' and the location of the carefully engraved inscription on a smooth pilaster inside the cave-temple indicate that the person referred to in the inscription excavated the shrine or at least made substantial improvements to it at a later date. See the discussion below on the significance of the palaeography of the inscription in reassessing the date and authorship of the cave temple.
c28.s8.t9.8
Cf. (inscr.) *peruntaccaṉ* 'master mason' (*Pallava Inscrs.* No. 52, 7th cent. A.D.; *SII.* XVII: No. 717, ca. 9-10 cent. A.D.).
c28.s8.t9.9
**a. *peru(m)-*** (adj.) 'great'. when added to the term *taccaṉ*, the expression signifies a 'master mason' who must have supervised the construction or renovation of the cave-temple.
c28.s8.t9.10
Sandhi: *-m* > *-n-* before *-t*.
c28.s8.t9.11
**b. *tacaṉ*** (*taccaṉ*) (n.) 'stonemason' (as in this case) or 'carpenter' (as in **73.8**). The consonant *-c-* is not doubled. See **73.8** for discussion on etymology.
c28.s8.t9.12
Epigraphic evidence for the dating of Pillaiyarpatti cave temple
c28.s8.t9.13
The decipherment of the Early Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscription in the cave-temple at Pillaiyarpatti has raised a question on the dating and authorship of the shrine. Whether the *peruntaccaṉ* referred to in the inscription excavated or renovated the cave-temple, it is obvious that the date of its construction must be coeval with or earlier than the date of the inscription engraved on a pilaster. The inscription has been described as 'archaic' and could not be read correctly until long after it was discovered (*ARE* 156/1935-36).
c28.s8.t9.14
The palaeography indicates clearly an earlier date than for the earliest known inscriptions of the medieval Pāṇṭiya dynasty: the Malaiyadi-k-kurichchi cave inscription of Māṟaṉ Cēntaṉ engraved in the Pallava-Tamil script in about the middle of the 7th cent. A.D. (*ARE* 358/1959-60; K.R. Srinivasan 1985: pp. 1-8); the Vaigai-bed Inscription of Cēntaṉ Māṟaṉ (K.G. Krishnan 1969-70, *EI.* XXXVIII: pp. 27-32; K.V. Raman 1977: pp. 61-65) and the Ēṉāti Inscription of the same king (*Āvaṇam* 7, 1996: pp. 13-14), both in a developed form of Vaṭṭeḻuttu assigned to the end of the 7th cent. A.D. The Pillaiyarpatti cave inscription is also anterior to the Vaṭṭeḻuttu inscriptions on herostones attributed to the Pallava kings Simhavishṇu and Mahēndravarman I (*Ceṅgam Naṭukaṟkaḷ*: pp. i-viii). The palaeographic evidence indicates that Pillaiyarpatti is the earliest known rock-cut cave temple in the Pāṇṭiya country, which must be assigned to a date not later than the middle of the 6th cent. A.D. See section 1.8.5.