The Hindu : National : "Let senior epigraphists take a look"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 17, 2005

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National

"Let senior epigraphists take a look"

By T.S. Subramanian

CHENNAI, FEB. 16. "I feel it is the duty of the ASI to invite all senior epigraphists" from different institutions to see the inscribed urn and express an opinion, said Iravatham Mahadevan, an epigraphist of international repute. "If the ASI, Chennai Circle, would kindly afford me an opportunity to see the inscribed urn now in Chennai, I will be able to study the writing in detail and express an opinion," Mr. Mahadevan added. He was asked by The Hindu to comment on the discovery of the script inside an urn at the mass burial site belonging to the Iron Age at Adichanallur in Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Mahadevan's magnum opus, Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D., was published jointly in 2003 by Crea-A, Chennai, and Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Mr. Mahadevan made the following statement:

"I have heard reports about the occurrence of writing in the Tamil-Brahmi script inside one of the burial urns found at Adichanallur. As the provisional dating given to the urns is 500 B.C. or earlier, I was curious to learn more about the writing found inside the urn. When I asked Dr. Satyamurthy, Superintending Archaeologist, ASI, he confirmed the discovery but said the matter was still under investigation. I also had a brief conversation with Dr. M.D. Sampath, retired Director, Epigraphy, ASI, Mysore, who confirmed that he had seen the writing inside the urn. Naturally, I have been very anxious to see this very important discovery myself.

"However, I learnt only today [February 7] from The Hindu that the urn has been brought from Adichanallur to the ASI office in Chennai. Some years ago, when potsherds with very early writing were discovered at Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, the Commissioner for Archaeology, Sri Lanka, invited me to Anuradhapura to see the inscribed potsherds and give them the benefit of my advice. If the ASI, Chennai Circle, would kindly afford me an opportunity to see the inscribed urn now in Chennai, I will be able to study the writing in detail and express an opinion.

"I feel it is the duty of the ASI to invite all senior epigraphists from institutions like the Tamil Nadu State Department of Archaeology, Madras University, Tamil University, the Tamil Nadu Archaeological Society, Dr. M. Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research, Tiruchi, etc., to see the inscribed urn and attend a lecture-demonstration by Dr. Satyamurthy."

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