Indian Epigraphy: A Guide to the Study of Inscriptions in Sanskrit, Prakrit, and the Other Indo-Aryan Languages c9.s2.t1.3

c9.s2.t1.3

Some inscriptions, particularly from the earlier periods, are inscribed directly onto rough stones with little or no preparation of the surface. Such is the case, for instance, with the Aśokan rock inscriptions. More commonly, however, the rock surface is subjected to varying degrees of preparation involving smoothing and polishing of the area to be inscribed. Later and more elaborate stone inscriptions, especially those of the *praśasti* class (see 4.1.1), are typically inscribed on rectangular stone slabs, sometimes very large, which were previously cut to size and carefully polished. Such slabs would usually be built in the walls or other parts of temples, palaces, and other structures. Long inscriptions, especially those of literary content (4.1.8), could be inscribed on a series of slabs (as many as twenty-five in the case of the *Rājapraśasti* at Udaypur). Stone slab inscriptions may also serve devotional purposes, as in the inscribed and sculpted slabs (*āyāgapaṭas*) of the Buddhists and Jains, or the inscribed footprint slabs of gods or revered personages (see 4.1.10).