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Early South Indian Palaeography c14: Chapter VI: The Brāhmī Inscriptions in the Tamil Country

Early South Indian Palaeography c14

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Chapter VI: The Brāhmī Inscriptions in the Tamil Country

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[Figure: MADRAS STATE SCALE 1 INCH TO 32 MILES]

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Fig. 13. Map of Madras State showing the sites with cavern and potsherd inscriptions.

1. Ariṭṭāpaṭṭi (Māṅguḷam)

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Ariṭṭāpaṭṭi is a village that is situated midway between Melur and the Alagarmalai hills in the Madurai District. Not far away from the village is Māṅguḷam where there is a range of hills called Kaḷugumalai or Ūvāmalai. The ascent is through the rocky slopes of the hill, which are very steep. On the eastern slope of the hill there are five caverns with the usual beds and Brāhmī inscriptions. K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar says that “of the four caverns discovered in the Kaḷugumalai hill, three contain smoothly chiselled beds cut on the bottom rocks. In some, the beds are quite numerous and run in different directions. All the four bear Brāhmī inscriptions.”¹ The long inscription in the lower-most cavern is not written on the brow of the overhanging boulder but on another which forms the backwall of its northern portion. K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar says: “The inscription is engraved on the open face of a bare rock at an inaccessible height in bold and clear characters. In front of the rock is a spacious court-yard without any bed and without the least sheltering place as in the case of all other caverns.”² The floor of the cavern is sandy and hence no beds are found in it. The southern part of the cavern extends to a depth of 49 feet 5 inches between two boulders that serve as walls. The entire length of the cavern which is in the shape of a curve is 58 feet and the height at the opening is roughly 11½ feet. There are as many as 31 beds both inside and outside on a protecting platform. One of the beds in front of the last cavern measures 7 feet 8 inches by 5 feet and is on a higher level than the others and occupies a central position.

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¹ *Proceedings and Transactions of the Third All India Oriental Conference*, p. 276.

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² *Ibid.*, p. 289.

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The inscription³ in the lowest cavern which is the longest so far discovered has been read by Krishna Sastri as follows:

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³ 460 of 1906.

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*Ka ṇi ya n [a] na ta si ri ya ku*
*a na dha ma ma ī ta na ṭi*
*ña cā ṭṭhi ya na sa l [ā] ka*

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*nā ī ḷa ña ca ṭi kā nā*
*ta na tai ya ca ṭi kā na cē i*
*ya pā ḷi ya.*

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He has also noted that at the bottom of the second letter *ṇa* is found attached a vertical stroke like the medial *u* sign and that the length of the letters read by him as *nā* (eg. the fourth one) is generally of the Bhaṭṭiprōlu type throughout.

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He observes the occurrence of the *caṭṭhiyana* once and perhaps, its variant, *Caṭikana* twice. He also thinks it possible that the letters *ce i yā* at the end may stand for *caityani* and *pāliya* for *palya* and that if so, these would be some at least of the Prākṛt words in the inscription. "The three possible words *siriyaka*, *siriyaku* and *yakasītika* which occur in this record and in the epigraphs 2 and 5 below include in them the word *yaka* (*Yakṣa*) which is not uncommon in Buddhist names." He also notes that the word *Yakana* is also found in the third epigraph recovered from Alagarmalai.

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K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar, who assigns basic values to the letters *na* etc. as in the rest, renders the record as follows:

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*Kā ṇi yaṉ Nata siri Yakuan dhamam ita*
*Naṭiñ Cariyaṉ Salakaṇ Iḷañ Carikaṇ tantaiy*
*Carikāṉ cēī ya pāḷi y.*

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He notes that the opening words *Kāṇiyaṉ Nata Siri Yakuaṉ* occurs in a slightly altered form, *Karaṇira Nōtā Siri Yakaru* in the next record, which is found in another cavern in the same hill and as such may be considered as representing the same person. In *Kāṇiyaṉ*, the first word of the record *ka* takes the place of *kara* found in the second; and similarly *ya* takes the place of the final *ra*. He thinks that the word really intended here is *karaṇi* which originally meant a mixed caste of the *anuloma* variety. The next word found written respectively as *nata* and *nōtā* in these two records, he thinks, are variants of the word *natha*, 'a chief'. *Yakuaṉ* which occurs as *Yakaru* in the next record is the Sanskrit *Yakṣa* in its Prākṛt form *Yakkha* with the Tamil masculine suffix *aṉ*. [He takes this *aṉ* suffix as nothing but the third personal pronoun *avaṉ*. Similarly the suffix *ru* of the next record is considered as equivalent to the honorific *ar* in Tamil or *ru* in Kannaḍa.] The occurrence of the words *Siri* and *nātha* in the name is taken as indicating the one as a person of some importance. *Dhamām* is taken by him as a varient of *dharmma* with the Tamil neuter suffix *m* added, and the penultimate letter lengthened. Similarly the words *tantai*, *makaṇ* and *ita* are taken as standing for *tantai makaṇ* and *ida* (the last word being the equivalent of the modern Tamil word *iden*, third person neuter pronoun). “In the passage coming after *ita*, *Carikaṇ* and *Cariyaṇ* are proper names, one being a variant of the other, thus exemplifying the common rule that *ya* takes the place of *ka*, passing through the form *a* invariably as in Prākṛt. …*Neḍuñ* and *Ilāñ* prefixed to *Cariyan* or *Carikan* mean the “elder and the younger.”

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Plate—1. 1 2 Ariṭṭāpaṭṭi

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*Ce i ya* seems to be the Prākṛt form of *caitya* which adopts to itself, the other alternative form *ce ti ya* or *sāiya*. And finally *paliy* is taken as the Tamil word *pāli* meaning an excavation in stone set apart for the residence of monks.

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The whole record is translated by him as follows: “This is the charity of the glorious chief Śrī-Yakṣa, a Karaṇi (by caste). This stone excavation for a relic chamber was made by *Carikan*, the father of Ilañ-Cārikan, and the brother-in-law of Neḍuñ-Cāriyan.”⁴

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⁴ See *Proceedings and Transactions of the Third All India Oriental Conference*, pp. 290-91.

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Narayana Rao groups the words as follows:

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*Kaṇiyana natā siri-yaku ana dhamāma*
*ita naṭīna Caṭṭhiyana sa'iakana Iḷana*
*caṭikānā tana-taiya; Caṭikāna Cē'iya*
*paḷiya*

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and restores them in Sanskrit as

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*Gaṇakānam nātha (nam) Śrī-yakṣaṇām*
*dharmam; idha (Pali ‘here’) (itaḥ)*
*nartinam sārthavāhakanam Sim-*
*haḷanam śreṣṭhikanam*
*dana-deyam; śreṣṭhikanam*
*caitya palika*

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which he translates as

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"the gift of the prosperous *yakṣas*, the accountants?, the gift of the *Śrēṣṭhins* or chiefs of the wandering traders of Ceylon who have camped here; the 'Catiya Pālika' or relic monastery of (built by) the merchant chiefs."

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He also thinks that it is possible that '*nata*' may be a scribal error for *notā* — Sanskrit *Snuṣā* = daughter-in-law, occurring in the next record.

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The other inscriptions found at the place have been read by Krishna Sastri as follows:

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2. *Ka* [*ra*] *ṇi ra n* [*ō*] *ta si ṛi ya ka* [*ru*]
3. *C* [*a*] *na ta ri ta na ko ṭu pi tō na*
4. *Ve ḷa a ḍai ni ka mā tō ra koṭi* [*o ra*]
5. *Ve ḷa* [*a*] [*ḍai*] *ya ni ka mā t* [*a*] *ko* [*pō*] *ti ra* [*ya*] *ka sī ti ka a* [*ri te*] *a sa ta na pi na ka ko ṭu pi tō na*⁵.

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⁵ 461 to 65 of 1906.

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He says that there seem to be three dots arranged like the Aśokan letter *i* before *ca* at the beginning of the third record, but it is highly doubtful if they have to be taken so; he also thinks that the last two letters of the fourth record, *a* and *ra*, (though given in his reading as *o* and *ra*), one engraved so close to the other that they may be read also as a broadly formed *la*. He further notes that the expression *veḷa aḍaiyanikāma* occurs in both the fourth and fifth records only with an extra syllable *ya* comparable with the superfluous consonant *y* which occurs frequently in early Tamil inscriptions after syllables ending in medial *ai*. Likewise *koṭupitōna* occurs in both the third and fifth records and has to be connected with the root *ekoṭu*. *Nōtasiriyaka* occurring in the second inscription is seen in the first record as *natasiriyaku*.

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K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar thinks that all the above four form one single inscription in two parts relating probably to two different compartments in the cavern in which these are found.

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B

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C

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D

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The text as read by him runs as follows:

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2 & 3. *Karaṇira nōta Siri Yakaru* *Canatāritaṉ Koṭupitōn*

4. *Veḷ-aḍai nikamatōr koṭiōr*

5. *Veḷ-aḍaiy nikāmatako potiṟ* *yakasīti kaaritava Satan* *Piṇāka koṭupitōn.*

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He takes the first two (i.e. the first three according to Krishna Sastri) go together forming one inscription. *Veḷ-aḍai* is treated as the name of the place Veḷḷaḍai, wherein a single *ḷa* is used in the place of the double *ḷḷa* required, which phenomenon has been found by him in these records. The word *nikama* may either be connected with *nigama* (*naigama*) merchants which occurs in Prākṛt inscriptions as *nekhama*⁶ and *negama*⁷ or treated as a place ending like *sthana*, *nagara* or *pura* being connected with Veḷḷaḍai. He also notes that in Pāli the word *nekkama* occurs in the sense of ‘renunciation from the world’ and is one of *Parami’s* supreme virtues, and that though this sense is not possible in this epigraph yet in the sense ‘one coming from’ a place, it will well suit, *at* being only a euphonic particle. The last word *koṭiōr* is taken to stand for *koṭṭuvittān* without the addition of the euphonic particles.

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⁶ *E. I.* Vol. VIII. p. 90.

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⁷ *Ibid*., Vol. II. pp. 328–29.

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The record is translated by him as follows:

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“Caused to be excavated by the glorious chief yakaṉ Cāṇatāritaṉ, a *Karaṇi* (by caste). The citizens (or merchants) of Veḷḷaḍai cut it.”

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In the last record the word *potiṟ* probably means a daughter (*putri*); *nikamatako* has to be regarded as a dative singular and means ‘of a citizen’. *Yakaśīti* is the proper name of the individual and *kaarita* means ‘caused to be made’ *Piṇāka* should be considered as the variant of Piṇakkaṉ with the double *ka*.

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The meaning of this record is: “Yakṣāsīti, the daughter of a citizen of Veḷḷaḍai caused to be made (this cave) and Śattaṉ Piṇakkaṉ had it cut.”

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Narayana Rao reads the inscriptions as follows :—

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2. *Karaṇira n(ō) ta siri-yaka-(ra)*
3. *Cana taritana koṭūpitōna*
4 & 5. *Veḷa-aṭṭaya nikamatakō pō tira*
*(ya) kasiti Ka 'a (ritē) 'a*
*satanā piṇāka koṭūpitōna*

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He adds the following notes to explain his heading :

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“*Karaṇira* (*Karaṇa* and — *ira*) where *Karaṇa* has in Prākṛt the meanings ‘*kṛti, kriya, vidhana*’ (*Thaṇangasutta*, 3.1 ; *Surasundarīcariya* 4.24); or a ‘court of justice’ (*Upadēśapada*, 117) ; or ‘one who does’ (*Kumārapalacarita*); any of these meanings — *ira* is a *matup* suffix meaning ‘having’—*nōta* is from Skt. ‘*snuṣa*’ ; son's wife ; *noha* in Mahārāṣṭri Prākṛt — *nota* as Mr. Krishna Sastri suggests, may be a variant of *nāta*, Skt. *natha*. *Siriyaka*, Skt. *Śrī-yakṣa*—*racina*, Skt *rajñam*, of kings, *taritana* Skt. *daritānam* or *daridrāṇam*, ‘of those which have been excavated,’ ‘of the poor’—*koṭupitōna* Skt. *kuṭṭāpitānam*, ‘of those which have been cut’—*veḷa* may be connected with the prākṛt *veḷḷa* Skt. *vilāsa*, pleasure ; or *vē'alaa* Skt. *vidāraka*, an excavator *Sūtrakṛtāngo—niryukti*, 36), or Skt. *vaikālika*, ‘belonging to the after-noon’; (*Daśavaikalikaniryukti*, 1.5 : 17 :—*aṭṭaya* Skt. *arthāya*, for the purpose of—*nikamata*, a collection of *Naigamas* or congregations of merchant guilds—*kō*, Skt. *kṛtē*, ‘for the purpose of’—*tā* is a suffix giving the meaning of ‘a collection or congregation’—*pōtira*, Skt. *putrī* or *pautrī* ; ‘a daughter or grand-daughter.’ *Yakasiti* may be a proper name or a common name from Skt. *Yakṣa-strī*, a *yakṣiṇī* or a merchant woman (of *Yakṣa* who is always referred to as a merchant). *Kā'aritē'a*, Skt. *Kāritavatī*. *Satanam* Skt. *sārthavāhanam* for ‘wandering merchants’—(*Piṇāka*, Skt. *Vināyaka*, (*Vināyakī* a ‘Yakṣa,’ Yakṣiṇi, (*Paumacaria*, 35.22) ; *Koṭūpitōna* Skt.) *kuṭṭāpitānam* (I do not accept the sonant ‘ḍ’ in these records, and so, as elsewhere I have read it as ‘ṭṭa’).”

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The meaning of the inscription according to Narayana Rao is :

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“The daughter-in-law of the king (honorific plural used) who had got this cave excavated and cut, the daughter of Yakṣastrī

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(proper name) a ‘Piṇāka’ or ‘Yakṣiṇī’ had this done for all the congregations of wandering merchants as an after-noon (resting place).”

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The actual reading of the first inscription is as follows:

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*Ka ṇi ya na na ta si ri ya ku a ṇa*
*dha* (or *e*) *mā ma i tā ne ṭi ña cā ḷi ya ṉa*
*sa lā ka ṉa i ṭā ña cā ṭi kā ṉa ta ṉa tai*
*ca ṭi ka ṉa ce i* [*tā* or *yā*] *ḷi ya.*

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In this inscription, the thirteenth letter which has been read as *dha* may also be read as the vowel *E*. The third letter from the end has been read as *yā* by all scholars so far. A perusal of the photograph would show that the letter is damaged and appears to have been corrected or over-written. The form of *tā* is also seen. Evidently it is *tā* having been corrected from *yā* chiselled originally.

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In the Drāviḍī restoration the inscription would be as follows:

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*Kaṇiy nanta siriy ku a=ṉ emam ita*
*neṭiñ Caḷiyaṉ salakaṉ iḷañ-Caṭikaṉ tantaiy*
*Caṭikaṉ ceita paḷiy*

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The letter *ya* occurs four times in this record; and in all the four places it follows the medial vowel *i*, and as such it has to be treated as the superfluous suffix, a feature very common in early Tamil inscriptions. We have discussed earlier about the word *paḷiy*. This will mean bed. *Ceita* is evidently the adjectival particle of which the correct form is *ceyta*, meaning ‘made by.’ Caṭikaṉ is evidently the name of a person, having a son named Iḷañ Caṭikaṉ i.e., Caṭikaṉ the junior. Very likely the word is related to the Sanskrit form *Jaṭila*. Subrahmanya Ayyar has pointed out that the word *śakalaṉ* means a brother-in-law and it is the same as *śalakaṉ* or *śakalai* now used. The use of the Sanskrit letter *sa* clearly shows that this is not a Tamil word. *Neṭiñ-caḷiyaṉ* like *Iḷañ-caṭikaṉ* would mean caḷiyaṉ, the senior, the correct form of the word being *Neṭum*. But we have also the use of the medial *i* in the word *Neṭiyōṉ*, meaning a tall person or a superior person. That Cāḷiyaṉ is the name of a person is clear from the suffix of the third person masculine *aṉ*. It may be that it is connected with Caṭikaṉ or Ceḷiyaṉ in which case it would mean a Pāṇḍya. It is well known that the name Neṭuñ Ceḷiyaṉ is a common one among the Pāṇḍyas.

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Then the latter portion of the record would mean: "This is the *paḷi* (or *paḷḷi*) made by Caṭikaṉ, father of Iḷañcaṭikaṉ (i.e. Caṭikaṉ the Junior) brother-in-law of Neṭiñ-caliyaṉ (i.e. Caliyaṉ the senior).

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The earlier portion of the record is not so easy. The first word *Kaṇiy* means a fortune teller (or astrologer) or one who practises the art of prognostication. We know that the Ājīvikas were adepts in that art and that they were practising it. *Nānta* is evidently the Sanskrit word Nanda meaning one of the treasures of Kubēra and also the name of his attendants. *Siriy* very often occurs as the form of *Śrī Kuaṉ* should be the name of a person like *Kuvaṉ*, *Kuyaṉ*, or *Kubaṉ*. Very likely it is *Kubēra*.

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It is possible that *Kuaṉ* (is the form of) represents *Kuyaṉ* or *Kuhaṉ* i.e. *Guhaṉ* or *Guhyaka*. We know that *guhyas* or *guhyakas* are connected with the Yakṣas who figure as the vehicles or bearers (*vāhanas*) of the Yakṣa gods like Kubēra.

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It is also possible to read the whole expression Siri Yakuaṉ taking it as Śrī Yakṣa. But even then the difficulty is there as the form Yakuaṉ for Yakṣa is no where found.

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The next word *ēmam* means gold (*hema*) or protection (from *kṣema*). It is used in the latter sense in the *Puranaṉūṟu*.

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If it is taken as *dhamam* it will become *dharma*. But it denoted the law or right mode of conduct and is not known to have been used in the sense of a charity or gift in those days. The word evidently acquired the latter meaning, i.e., gift or charity only in later days when *dāna* came to be considered more meritorious than sacrifice (*yajña*) and became part of one's mode of life.

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If the reading *Dhamma*, is adopted, it would signify *Dharma*, one of the Gods, prominently mentioned in early inscriptions.⁸

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⁸ Cf. Nanaghat Inscriptions of Naganika (See Dr. D. C. Sircar, *Select Inscriptions*, p. 186).

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It is the word *ita* which baffles the construction and interpretation of the whole record. As it is, the word does not convey any meaning. It should be *itu* (meaning this) or *īnta* meaning ‘given by’. But this letter is an adjectival participle requiring a noun immediately following it. In this record *paḷiy* or bed is the only noun, and it comes at the end. Such a construction is very unusual. The correct form of the word would be the infinite verb *īntu* (having given). But the engraver intended only *ta*, as this is clear from the single *ā* long symbol of a horizontal line at the top added to the letter on the right. If the word *ita* is also taken as forming part of a personal name, then there will not be much difficulty in the interpretation of the record as the earlier portion will be adjectival qualifying the name Neṭuñcaḷiyan. This has possibly some connection with the words *itatuve* and *itatūvin* occurring in the second and third labels at Koṅgarpuḷiyankuḷam.

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We have seen earlier that *ita* and *ida* occur in the Prākṛt inscriptions of Western India as standing for Indra. The earlier portion thus probably means: “With the gold given by Nanda Siri Kubēra or Nanda Śrī Yakṣa the (astrologer) fortune-teller.”

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B. The actual reading of the inscription is :—

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*Ka ra ṇi ra nā ta si ri ya ka* [*ru*]

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The horizontal stroke to the left of the fifth letter, read as *no* by Krishna Sastri is not clear. Probably we have to take it as only *nā* as Subrahmanya Ayyar has done. The last letter read as *ru* may also be taken as the vowel *u*. In the penultimate sign *ka* the lower portion is damaged. Hence it cannot be definitely said whether it is *ka* or *ku*⁹.

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⁹ Cf. D. C. Sircar, *Select Inscriptions*, p. 186.

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C. The actual reading of the next label is:

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*C* [*a*] *na ta ri ta ṉa ko ṭu pi to ṉa*

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Krishna Sastri says that the three dots arranged in the form of a triangle like the Aśokan letter *i* are found at the beginning of the record, but at the same time says that “it is highly doubtful if they have to be taken so.”

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This record may be restored in Drāviḍi as:

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*Cantaritaṉ koṭupitōṉ*

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This label gives the name of the person who gave away or caused to be made the cavern or bed. It is to be translated as:

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Cantaritaṉ is the person who gave this.

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Cantaritaṉ is evidently a compound made up of the two words *Cantaṉ* and *aritaṉ* both of which names occur in Brāhmī records.

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It is also to be noted that in common with the other Brāhmī inscriptions found in this part of the country the word *koṭupitōṉ* stands for *koṭuppittōṉ* without doubling the consonants *p* and *t* as required.

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D. The reading of the fourth label is:

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*Ve ḷa a ṭai ni kā mā to ra ko ṭ [i] [o ra]*

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The label is to be restored in Drāviḍi as:

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*Veḷ-aṭai nikamatōr koṭiōr.*

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As pointed out by Subrahmanya Ayyar *Veḷ-aṭai* evidently stands for *Veḷḷaḍai*, the name of a place; and *nikamatōr* for those belonging to *nikama* or *nigama*, the trading corporation. The last word *koṭiōr* is taken as standing for *koṭupitaṉ* or *koṭṭuvittaṉ*. It should be noted that it is not found used elsewhere in this form. As such it is not possible to take this word in that sense.

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The word *Kōṭiyar* is found largely used in early classical Tamil literature. Commentators explain the word as meaning *Viraliyar*, the women-folk of the *Paṇar* class, as they move their body in zig-zag manner when they dance. Probably *Kōṭiyar* is the feminine form of *Kōṭar* about whom also mention is made in classical Tamil literature. These *Kōṭar* are probably to be taken as the *Nāgas* (possibily derived from *Kōṭa* or *Karkōṭa*). Thus *Kōṭiyar* would mean the women folk of the Nāga people. Both the words *Kōṭiyar* and *Kōṭiyōr* are variant forms of the same word, and mean the same.

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Thus the label may be translated as :

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The Kōṭiyōr (Nāga women) belonging to the *nikama* (i.e. *nigama* or *naigama*, the merchant corporation) of Veḷḷaḍai.

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E. In Drāviḍi the fifth inscription will be restored as :

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*Veḷ = ataiy nikamata = kopitir*
*yaka sitika arite a cataṉ*
*piṇaka koṭupitōṉ*.

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The last word *koṭupitōṉ* would mean "person who caused it to be given". Very likely this record contains more of the Prākṛt element and has to be translated as follows, following Subrahmanya Ayyar.

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"Yaka Siti, the daughter, of a citizen of Veḷḷaḍai caused to be made (this cave) and Cattaṉ Piṇakkaṉ had it cut."

2. Karungāḷakkuḍi

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This village lies about eight miles to the north of Melur in the Madurai District on the road to Tiruchirapalli. The caverns on the hills near the place and the beds chiselled therein are of special interest. One of the caverns which contains a Brāhmī inscription measures 33 feet east to west as well as north to south, opening both on the southern and northern sides.

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In another cavern higher up on the same hill there is a Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscription in Tamil verse cut on one in a row of rocky beds. That record states that a certain chief called Paḷḷidaraiyan rendered service in different capacities to his master the Pāṇḍya king referred to in the verse by the terms *Vaḻudi* or *Mīnavan*, by building a bright *vimāna*, stopping the sea from encroaching and by protecting sacrifices at Tiruppodiyil by his scholarship, asceticism and saintliness (?).¹ Apparently it contains a reference to the sage Agastya whose intimate connection with the Pāṇḍyas, the Podiyil hill and Tamil literature is so well-known. The age to which Paḷḷidaraiyan or his master, the Pāṇḍya king, belonged, cannot be determined at present; but palaeographically the Vaṭṭeḷuttu characters in which the epigraph is incised may be assigned to the ninth century A.D. One interesting inference the inscription leads to is that the beds in the natural caverns were used not only by the Jaina saints, but also by laymen about twelve hundred years ago, as is done by mendicants of the present day.

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¹ No. 563 of 1911.

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Further on a rock, opposite to the cavern containing the Brāhmī record on the west is engraved a Jaina image with a Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscription below it, which invokes the teacher Ajjaṇandi.²

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² No. 562 of 1911.

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The short Brāhmī inscription consisting of eleven characters³ has been read by Krishna Sastri as follows:—

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³ No. 561 of 1911.

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[*E*] *ṭhu ya r* [*u*] *ra a ri ṭi na pa ḷi*

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He considers that the first five syllables which end in *ura* may constitute the name of a village and also draws attention to the word *pali* occurring in other records also (Ariṭṭāpaṭṭi and Kīḷavaḷavu).⁴ He also thinks that between the eighth and ninth letters of the record, *ti* and *na* the impression shows a symbol, somewhat like that of the mark of interrogation (?). He is not sure whether it is to be read as Aśokan *kha* or simply treated as a clumsy slit on the stone.

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⁴ See *Proceedings of the First All-India Oriental Conference*, pp. 208 and 217.

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Subrahmanya Ayyar, treating the *na* as a basic consonant reads the inscription as consisting of three words.

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*Eṭhuyarūra Aritin Paḷi*

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He also supplies the masculine suffix *n* to the first word, the modern equivalent of which will be Eṭṭiyūraṉ and translates it as

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"This is the cave of Āriti of Eṭṭiyūr."

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Narayana Rao follows Krishna Sastri in his reading of the inscription and restores the epigraph in Sanskrit as follows:

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*Eṭhuyarara Hāritanām Pali* = (*Ki* ?).

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The actual reading of the record is:

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*E ṭhu ya u ra Ari ti da pa ḷi.*

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In accordance with the general principle followed in reading the Drāviḍī script found in the Bhaṭṭiprōlu inscription, the present inscription may be read as follows:

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[*E*] *ṭhuyūr Aritin paḷi.*

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The words *aritin* and *paḷi* have been discussed earlier. The only other word in the present inscription is Eṭhuyūr. The suffix *ūr* added to it points to the fact that it is the name of the village. The record will therefore mean

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"The bed of Aritiṉ (i.e. Hārita) of Eṭhuyūr (or Eṭṭiyūr).

3. Kilavalavu

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On the low range of hills with huge boulders between Kīḻūr and Kīḻavaḷavu, nearly seven miles from Melur on the road to Tirupattur are found some caverns containing the usual beds and inscriptions. Near one of these caverns there are cut in the rock numerous Jaina figures with Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscriptions below them.¹ The Brāhmī inscription² discovered as early as 1903 (and it was the first to be discovered in the Tamil country) is about fifteen feet from the ground level of the cavern. Many letters are written upside down and are boldly cut. Evidently the engraver had better convenience to work from the upper part of the cave than from the front.

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¹ The place appears to have been a strong centre of Jaina influence like Āṉaimalai. The figures of the naked Jaina Tirthankaras etc. are interpreted by the local people as 'school children', and the whole spot is connected by them with a school that is supposed to have once existed here. Evidently the word *paḷḷi* which denotes a Jaina Temple also meaning a school is responsible for this belief of the people.

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² No. 135 of 1903.

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According to Parker, there is an old Brāhmī inscription written upside down on one of the Tēvāṇḍāṉ Puliyangulam hills in Ceylon. He refers to it as the first instance of what is known there as the *Paerali Basa*. In this system is required an interchange or transformation of letters in written or spoken words; and in interpretation, the letters have to be read from right to left.³ Krishna Sastri was doubtful if the Kīḻavaḷavu Brāhmī inscription was of this variety. Probably he felt it was not.

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³ *Ancient Ceylon*, pp. 429-30.

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His transcription of the record was as under

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*u pa [ c ] a a pō ta ṇe ṭu la vō*
*chō ko ṭu pa ḷi ī*

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Among the letters in the inscription, the sixth and the twelfth *te* and *ko* are in the normal correct position with reference to the reader from the ground, while the others are upside down.

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He also notes that the word *Ūpacaa* at the beginning seems to suggest the Prākṛt forms of *upādhyāya* and *vachō* are like-wise synonymous. The root *koṭu* has occurred elsewhere. He also compares the word *paḷi ī* with the word *paḷiya* occurring in the record *A* at Ariṭṭāpaṭṭi.

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Subrahmanya Ayyar thinks that the first word *upa-ca-a* may be regarded as the Tamil form of *upasaka* through Prākṛt, as found largely in Ceylon inscriptions. He reads the record as follows:

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*upa-ca-a pōta Neṭula Vōccō*
*koṭu paḷi ī.*

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According to him the second word *pōta* is no doubt the equivalent of *putra*. *Neṭula vōccō* is the name of a person, the second part of which is the Prākṛt form of *vatsa* as may be seen from the same form of *vaccō* standing for *vatsa* in the Bhaṭṭiprolu Casket inscriptions⁵. *I* at the end of the record is treated by him as the pronoun ‘this’. “If the use of the word at the end of a sentence is objectionable and unlikely, it may form part of *paḷi*. This inscription is the second one which uses the word *paḷi* in the sense of a ‘cave’.” Subrahmanya Ayyar translates the record as follows:

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⁵ *Ep. Ind.*, II. p. 329.

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“This is the cave cut by Neṭula Vōccan the son of a lay devotee”.

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Narayana Rao reads the record as follows:

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*upaca’a pōta naṭṭala vocco koṭu pāli’i*

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restores it as:

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*upadhyāya-putraḥ naṭya kar o padhyayaḥ*
*kuṭṭapita palika (kī o)*

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and translates it as

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“the monastery that the instructor of the dancers, the son of the teacher, got cut”.

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⁴ Parker: *The Ancient Inscriptions of Ceylon*, Nos. 13, 37 and 447.

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The reading of the inscription is as follows:

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*u pā cā a po ta ṇe ṭu ḷa vo co ko ṭu pa ḷi i*

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There seems to be some space between the second and third letters, i.e., *pā* and *cā*. It is also to be noted that these two have each two *ā* long symbols added to their right. As pointed out earlier the sixth letter *ta* and twelfth letter *ko* are in correct position with reference to the reader from the ground, though the other letters are upside down. It is also possible to take the twelfth letter as *ku* taking it also as written upside down like the rest, as the horizontal stroke to take left at the bottom is not quite clear. The ninth letter read here as *ḷa* has been read by Krishna Sastri as *lā*. It is also possible to read it *ḷi*.

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The *ā* symbol added to the ninth letter also looks like that of the medial vowel *i*. The eleventh letter has been read as *chho* by Krishna Sastri, and as *cco* by Subrahmanya Ayyar. The loops at the bottom which should be discernible both to the left and the right are not clear. On the other hand it appears more like a horizontal line, thus making it look like *na*.

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The reading of the inscription as restored in Drāviḍī will be:

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*Upāca apote ṇeṭuḷa voco koṭu paḷi i.*

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*Upāca* is derived from the Sanskrit word *Upasaka* and is possibly connected with the Tamil word *Uvaccan*. The last two words *koṭu paḷi* would mean the *paḷḷi* or bed given by (i.e. *koṭutta-paḷḷi* in modern form). The middle three words should form the name of a person. *Apote* may possibly be equated with *aputran* which name with the initial vowel lengthened as *āputtiran* was borne by one of the characters appearing in the Tamil epic the *Maṇimēkalai*.⁶

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⁶ cf. canto 24. *Āputtiran nāḍu aḍainta kātai*; canto. 25. *Aputtiranōḍu Maṇipallavam aḍainta kātai*. *Āputtira nāḍu*, the land of Āputra figures as one of the countries (an island) to which Maṇimēkalai the heroine of the poem is said to have flown by air from the Cōḷa capital kāvērippūmpaṭṭinam. Canto. 24. i 169 mentions that Nāgapura was the capital of that island.

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*Ṇeṭuḷa* should mean something like *Neṭuveḷ* (indicating god Muruga) or Neṭiyōn (indicating Lord Viṣṇu). Literally the word means a tall person or a person of great height (thus probably meaning the God having his temple on the top of a hill). *Voco* is the Prākṛt form of the word *Vatsa*. It is also to be noted that the word *ṇeṭuḷa* commences with the lingual *ṇa* which is not one of the initial letters in Tamil, i.e., the letters with which a Tamil word commences. But in Prākṛt the dental *na* becomes lingual and we have many words commencing with the lingual *ṇa*. This clearly shows the influence of Prākṛt in this record.

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The entire record may be translated as follows :

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"The bed given by (endowed or made by) the *upasaka* (lay disciple) Āputtiraṉ (Āputran) Neḍuvēḷ vatsa (i.e. son of Neḍuvēḷ)."

4. Marugāltalai

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This is a small village in the Tirunelveli District about ten miles North-East of Palayamkottai, a part of the town Tirunelveli and on the southern side of the River Tāmraparṇi. A broad cavern has been formed by two huge boulders one over-hanging the other on the eastern side of the low hill locally known as Pūvil-uḍai-yār malai near the village.¹ The hill has now a number of shrines consecrated to village deities. The rocky floor thus formed on the bottom rock contains a number of beds chiseled at convenient places in four different sections.² The cavern runs to a length of 52 feet north to south and is 8 feet deep. A water drain (*katarh*) is cut on the edge of the overhanging boulder to lead off the rain water dripping from above. The cavern does not contain any sculpture as is found in some other caves; nor is there any water spring or water sources in the rocky hollows adjoining it. However, on some of the beds a few letters and diagrams of recent date are found incised. The figure of a lion found on some of the old Pallava coins and copper plates may be specially mentioned.

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¹ This name would mean "the hill of Pūvil-Uḍaiyār". The term *Pūvil-Uḍaiyār* represents a god seated on a flower evidently a lotus, of *malar micai-y-ēkiṉāṉ* occurring in the *Tirukkuṟaḷ*.

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² It is said that seven beds are found cut in it (*M.E.R.*, 1907, part II para 1.) The beds were obviously meant for leaning or lying down.

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An inscription in Brāhmī characters is found incised on the brow of the boulder a little below the water-drain. The letters which are clear and well preserved range from one foot to fifteen inches in height. The inscription was first noticed by Mr. L. A. Cammiade, the Revenue Divisional Officer in the District in the year 1906 and brought to the notice of the Archaeological Department through Mr. D. T. Chadwick I.C.S., Settlement Officer of the District. This was examined and copied by the officers of the the Epigraphy Department and its importance was recognised and noticed by V. Venkayya in his Epigraphy Report for the year 1906-7.³

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³ Registered as No. 407 of 1906.

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This short Brāhmī record of seventeen letters was read by H. Krishna Sastri an follows:

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*Vē ṇa kō si pā na ku ṭu pi ta k [a] [ḻa] ka ña ca ṇa na*

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He did not group the letters into words; nor did he try to translate or interpret the record. However, he drew the attention of scholars that the word *kōsīpāna* might be compared with the Sanskrit word *kaśyapanam* and the word *kuṭupita* with the Tamil word *Koṭṭuvittān* meaning caused to be cut (cf. also Childers: *koṭṭēti*. He also added in a footnote: “The syllable *kō* (in the word *Kōsipana*) has been read directly from the stone.⁴ In the impression however there is a clear resemblance to *ki*.”

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⁴ *Proceedings of the First All India Oriental Conference*, 1920, p. 333.

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The sixth letter in the inscription in read by Krishna Sastri as *nā*. But K. V. Subramanya Ayyar reads it as *ṇa* which letter is peculiar to the Tamil language; and treating the second, sixth, fourteenth and seventeenth letters (*ṇa*, *ṇa*, *ña* and *ma*) as basic consonants he reads the record as:

c14.s4.13

*Vēṇ Kōsipan Kuṭupita Kaḻa-Kāñcaṇam*

c14.s4.14

and translates it as “auspicious (or stone) monastery was caused to be cut by Kāśyapa of the Vēṇ country (or the Vēḷir chief Kāśyapa). Vēṇ is taken as the name of a territorial division now represented by the (former) Travancore State, though he concedes that “it is not precluded that *Vēṇ* may stand for *vēḷ*, a ‘chief’.” *Kōsipan* is the proper name of a person equivalent to Kassapa in Pāli, Kāśyapa in Sanskrit and Kāśipan in Tamil. He takes the word *kuṭupita* as the verb with the final *n* omitted (*kuṭupitan*), with the root *koṭu* or *kuṭu* ‘to cut’ and *p* the causal particle. “Its modern form is *koṭṭuvittān* and means ‘caused to be cut’” *Kaḻakāñcanam* is taken by Subrahmanya Ayyar as a compound of two words *kaḻa* and *kāñcanam*. The first word is derived from the Sanskrit word *kalya* also having the alternate form *kalya* meaning auspicious, or alternately taken as connected with the Tamil word *kal* (Singalese *gala*), meaning a hill or stone. The other word *kāñcaṇam*, though generally it means gold or a variety of tree, has been taken to refer to the monument itself, an abode, monastery or temple, since it comes after the verb *koṭṭuvittāṉ*. In support of this K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar cites the remarks of Monier Williams that Hemādri uses this word in his *Caturvargacintāmaṇi* to denote a particular form of building. He also adds in a foot-note that according to Monier Williams *Kala* and *Kāñcana* are the names of future Buddhas and that "it is very doubtful if our inscription, early as it is, could have any reference to these."⁵

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⁵ *Proceedings of the Third All-India Oriental Conference* p. 288 n. But Krishna Sastri writes: "It is worthy of note that *Kālakañjaka* according to Childer's *Pali Dictionary* is a 'sort of *mata* and *Kalakanja* according to Monier, Williams is the 'name of a Dānava family'' (*op. cit.*, p. 347).

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C. Narayana Rao⁶ reads and interprets this short record in two different ways treating the third letter either as *kō* or as *ki*. Treating the letter as *kō* he reads the inscription as Prākṛt.

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⁶ *New Indian Antiquary*, Vol. I, pp. 364–5.

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*Vēṇa Kōsipāna kuṭupita kaḷakāñcanam*

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The word *Vēṇa* is restored by him as *vaiśyanam* (*Vaiśya* becoming *Ve* in the following manner: Vēssa=Vēyya=Vēya=Vē; and the genetive plural suffix *na*, the Prākṛt form of the Sanskrit *nam*: Kōsīpāna is Kāśyapānām: *kuṭupita* is *kuṭṭapita* 'caused to be cut', and *Kālakāñcanam*, 'a particular form of building'. He adds: "*kuṭapita* is a past passive casual participle agreeing with *kalakañcanam*; the difference in the gender between the adjective and the noun need not give trouble. The agreement between the adjective and the noun is not strictly followed in the Prākrits." Thus it will mean: "the *kalakañcanam* or building caused to be cut for (or by or belonging to) the people, the Kāśyapas."

c14.s4.20

Alternately treating the letter as *ki* he reads it as *Vēṇaki sipāna kuṭupita kālakāñcanam* meaning "the *kalakañcanam* or building caused to be cut or built by a woman follower of the Buddhist *Vinaya* doctrine (or a woman whose personal name was *Veṇaki* or *Vaināyakī*), restoring the word *Vēṇaki* as *Vainayakī* or Sanskrit (i.e.) a woman follower of the *Vinaya* or the Buddhist doctrine and *śilpana* as *śilpanam* belonging to the sect of the *śilpins* or architects or artisans. He says that the second interpretation seems more probable.

c14.s4.21

A fresh study of the inscription may be made on the following lines. As said above, while editing the inscriptions in the Brāhmī script recovered from Bhaṭṭiprōlu⁷ Dr. Bühler has remarked that of the vowelled consonants, those with the addition of the symbol of *a* long, a horizontal stroke at the top to the right, have to be read only as denoting short *a* and that *a* long is denoted by the addition of another line hanging downward at the right of the horizontal stroke. As such, consonant letters without any additional symbol have to be treated as pure or vowel-less consonants. It is found that the latter principle fits in with the above. If the former principle is also applied here, the fifth and tenth letters read as *pā* and *tā* respectively become short ones, *pa* and *ta*. Thus the word *kōsipan* has to be read as *Kosipan* and the word *kuṭupitā* as *kuṭupita*. Similarly the eleventh and thirteenth letters read as *kā* have to be treated as *ka* with the short *a*. The record would then read:

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⁷ *Ep. Ind*, Vol. II, pp. 323-4.

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*Vēṇ Kōsipan kuṭupita kal kañcanam*⁸

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⁸ According to the above principle to read the last three letters as *caṇam* it is necessary that the symbol of ā long is found added to the letters *ca* and *ṇa*. But it is not possible to assert this positively from the photograph of the inked impression of the record available. Even otherwise it cannot be read in any other way. In Tamil a basic or pure consonant will not occur consecutively. Further the number of words beginning with *ña* as the initial letter are very few and no such word with its pair *ca* coming as a pure consonant immediately following it is possible. It is always the other way. The occurrence of the letter *ña* with a *ca* immediately following it would clearly demonstrate that *ña* should be taken as a pure consonant and the succeeding *ca* as a vowelled one with the inherent *a*. Similarly the next letter *ṇa* should also be taken as a vowelless consonant with the inherent *a* as it is followed by the final *m*.

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The word *vēṇ* need not necessarily be taken as having any relation to the territorial division *vēṇāḍu*. It is not known whether this division existed as such in those early days. Even then, the term *Vēṇaḍu* is formed of the words *Vēḷ* and *nāḍu* only. As such it is the Tamil word *Vēḷ* which in conjunction with Kōsipan becomes Vēṇ. Cf. Vēḷ=māṟan=Vēṇ+māṟan. This word is generally taken to mean a chieftain. But it also means sacrifice. In fact later day traditions describe the chieftains having the title *vēḷ* or *Vēḷir* as descendants of one who had sprung from the sacrificial fire.

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The Tamil *nighaṇṭu* known as the *Piṅgalaṇdai* and ascribed to the tenth century A.D. gives the meaning benevolence = gift to the Tamil word *vēḷvi*, ordinarily meaning sacrifice⁹. This *nighaṇṭu* contains a large number of words with their meanings not ordinarily found used in literature, but which are found in epigraphy. i.e., *kuṇṭu* = horse, *talai* = first; *taṇicu* = loan etc. Hence the meaning of gift for the word *vēḷvi* found in this *nighaṇṭu* alone, without appropriate literary usage to support it, need not be brushed aside. (Probably the gift of munificent *dakṣiṇas* in a *yajña* sacrifice has some thing to do with it). It may be noted in this connection that the seven persons known as *kaḍai-y-eḷu-vaḷḷal* mentioned in classical Tamil literature had each the title *vēḷ*. Evidently the word *vēḷ* also denoted a person of small benevolence or liberality. In that case *Kōśipaṉ* of the record was likewise a benevolent person whose benevolence is vouched for by the gift of this monument.

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⁹ See *Tamil Lexicon*, S. V. *Vēḷvi*.

c14.s4.28

The word *kuṭupita* has been equated by the previous scholars with *koṭṭuvittaṉ*. The use of the word *koṭṭuvittaṉ* in the sense 'caused to be cut' is very rare in Tamil epigraphy. Further the occurrence of the participle *pi* in the inscription makes the equation untenable, as it should be *vi*, if the word intended is *koṭṭuvittaṉ*. It should therefore be taken as *kuṭuppitta* 'caused to be given or donated' the correct literary form of which is *koṭuppitta*. But it should be noted that the form *kuṭutta* instead of *koṭutta* occurs ordinarily in Tamil inscriptions and is a common feature. (Even now the word is used as *kuṭu* or *kuṭutta* in common speech throughout the country.)

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It is to be noted that the doubling of consonants is absent.

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This word cannot be taken as the verb with the final *ṉ* dropped. It is the adjectival participle. As such the word *kal-kañ-caṇam* following *kuṭupita* should denote what has been given, the object of the gift mentioned in the record.

c14.s4.31

The previous scholars have taken the word as *kaḷakañcanam* with the dental *na* instead of the lingual *ṇa*, clearly seen in the inscription. Considering the occurrence of the lingual *ṇa* the word may be taken as the compound *kal-kañ-caṇam*.

c14.s4.32

*Caṇam* is related to the Sanskrit word *śayana*, meaning bed. It is also the Prākṛt form and is derived from the Sanskrit form with the dropping of *ya* and the conversion of the dental *na* into the lingual *ṇa*. This word also appears to have denoted a dwelling place. This will become clear if it is compared with the expression *Āmattūr-caṇṇippāṇai* in Tirunāvukkarasar's *Tēvāram*¹⁰ on Tiruvāmāttūr where the God of the place is referred to as 'he who resides or dwells at Āmattūr.'

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¹⁰ Fifth *Tirumurai*—*Tiruvāmāttūr Tirukkuruntogai*, Verse 8.

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The word *kal* denotes a hill, stone or rock. The word *kal-kañ-caṇam* may therefore be taken as denoting 'an abode formed or made of stone.' Then the word *kam*, the *m* of which according to the rules of *sandhi* becomes *ñ* when it is joined to a word beginning with *ca*, should mean cut or made out. In fact the *Tolkāppiyam*¹¹ ascribes the meaning (*toḷil*) art, operation, employment, to the word *kam* and the commentary called *Virutti* on the *Nannūl*¹² takes it as meaning smith's work. The terms *kammiyar*, *kammaḷar* etc. denoting the artisan classes in general were themselves derived from the word *kam*. Thus the compound *kal-kañ-caṇam* may be translated as 'the abode or dwelling place made or cut from stone.'

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¹¹ *Tolkāppiyam*, *Eḷuttu*, Sūtra 328.

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¹² *Virutti* on Sūtra 223.

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The whole inscription may be translated as follows :

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"The abode or dwelling place (or bed) made or cut from stone caused to be given or donated by Vēṇ Kōśipaṇ (i.e. Kōśipaṇ or Kāśyapa the benevolent philanthropist).

5. Koṅgarpuḷiyankuḷam

c14.s5.1

This village lies nine and a half miles south-west of Madurai on the Tirumaṅgalam road and is situated on the borders of the Madurai Taluk. On a low range of bald rock about two hundred yards north-east of this small village is a narrow cleft which does not allow one to sit freely, much less to stand. Six caverns have been chiselled in the overhanging rock. On the rounded edge of one of these caverns have been engraved three Brāhmī inscriptions¹ in bold and clear characters of about the second or third century before the Christian era. There are six sets of beds on the ground floor of the three next caverns, most of them without pillow-lofts. Of them four are in good condition and stretch north to south. One of the sets consists of ten beds; another of six; the third, of eight, the fourth, of four, the fifth, of three and the beds in the sixth are all very much damaged. On the whole there are thirty-three beds. The size of the beds varies from 18′ × 1′6″ in the longest to 5′7″ × 1′6″ in the shortest.

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¹ 55, 56 and 57 of 1910.

c14.s5.3

Higher up on the rock are some Jaina figures and a Vaṭṭeḷuttu inscription.

c14.s5.4

Krishna Sastri read the Brāhmī inscriptions at the place as follows:

c14.s5.5

(i) *Ku ṭū ko ṭu pi ta va na ū*
*pa ca a na* [*ū*] *pa* [*ṭū*] *va.*

(ii) *Pa ka na ū ra pe t* [*ā*]
*t* [*a*] *na pi ṭa na ı*
*ta ta ve pō na*

(iii) [*ku*] *ṭ* [*ū*] *ko ṭa la ku* [*ı*] *ta*
*ta vi na cē ṭu a t* [*ā*]
*na lē na.*

c14.s5.6

He notes that the letter read by him as *ṭū* occurring twice as the second and the sixteenth in the first inscription, shows two different forms in the medial *ū* sign and that it is not unlikely that the last letter of the same is part of a punctuation which is found in the case of two other inscriptions from Koṅgarpuliyaṅkuḷam.

c14.s5.9

He remarks that *kuṭū* which occurs in the first and third inscriptions is perhaps the same as *kuṭu* of Tirupparaṅkuṉṟam and that *koṭupita*, *kuṭupitā*, *koṭūpitō* are all connected with each other and with the root *koṭu*. The five syllables *ū*, *pa*, *cā*, *a* and *nā* may suggest the Sanskrit *upādhyāyānām*. *Itatā* of the second record may also be noted to be the first element of the word *itataviṉā* of the third record. The five syllables *pa* *kā* *na* *ū* *ra* of the second may be compared with the name of the old territorial division called Pāgaṉūrukūṟṟam, which, however, was to the north of Madurai. *Lēnā* of the third record may be the Pali *lēna* (*layana*) ‘cave’. If so, this will be the one clear Pāli word found in these inscriptions. Of the two symbols of punctuation which occur in the second and third inscriptions, the latter is found also in the early Ceylon inscriptions.²

c14.s5.10

² See Parker, *Ancient Ceylon*, p. 446, plate.

c14.s5.11

K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar opines that these relate to the excavation of three caves or three compartments in one cave and reads them as under:

c14.s5.12

(i) *Kuṭu koṭupitāvan Upacā an Upāruvān*

(ii) *Pakānūr-pōtaṉan Piṭaṉ Itatave lēn*

(iii) *Kuṭu koṭalaku Itātāviṉ Cēṭu ataṉ lēn*

c14.s5.13

He takes the word *Upāruvān* occurring in the first inscription as the proper name of a person. The other three words having been already dealt with, he translates the first inscription as “the lay devotee *Upāruvān* caused the cave to be cut.”

c14.s5.14

Regarding the second inscription he says:

c14.s5.15

“The penultimate letter of the last word is damaged. I prefer to take it as *le* with the right arm much worn out. *Pākānūr* is no doubt the name of a village as the ending *ūr* clearly shows. Shortening the penultimate *a* in *Pākaṉ*, we get its modern equivalent to be Pākaṉūr, a village after which Pāgaṉūr-kūṟram, one of the principal divisions of the Pāṇḍya country, was known in ancient times. It was in this division that Solavandan, Tenkarai and the villages in their vicinity were situated. The meaning of *Pōtataṉ* is not clear. Like *ataṉ*, which we sometimes find added to village names, this word may mean ‘one belonging to’. The words *Piṭaṉ Itātaveṉ*, with the final *ṉ* supplied, may be taken as a proper name. *Piḍaṉ* is a shortened form of *Bhaṭāra* which comes in Tamil as Paḍāraṉ, Piḍāraṉ and Piḍāṉ. *Lēṉ* means a cave. Often the word is used with the lingual *ṇ* in place of *ṉ* (See Hathigumphā and Uṇḍavalli cave Inscriptions).” He translates the inscription as:

c14.s5.16

“This is the cave of Piḍaṉ Itātāveṉ, a resident of Pākanūr”.

c14.s5.17

As regards the third inscription, he thinks that *Koṭu koṭalaku* may be taken to mean the excavator of caves; Itātāveṉ Cēṭuatāṉ is the proper name of a person of which the first element occurs in the second inscription. Cēṭuatāṉ is perhaps associated with *Śreṣṭhi* ‘a merchant’, *atāṉ* being a personal ending with the euphonic particle *at*.

c14.s5.18

He translates the inscription as follows:

c14.s5.19

“This is the cave of Itātāviṉ Cēṭuatāṉ, the excavator of caves.”

c14.s5.20

He also notes that in these three epigraphs the word *lēṉ* is met with twice and *upāsaka* ends with the masculine suffix *ṉ*, and that in the word *kuṭu* only the letter *ṭ* is used instead of a double one.

c14.s5.21

At the end of the second and third inscriptions are found two symbols of which the first has in its centre a small circle to which is attached both at the top and the bottom, the straight arm of a hook bent at the right side, which K. V. Subrahmanya Ayyar thinks, may be taken to represent *Om*. The second symbol is a rectangle enclosing an upright cross similar to the ones found in the caverns of Ceylon,³ and is taken as representing the *svastika* mark, usually found in Buddhist inscriptions and tablets.

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