A scholar extraordinaire
KESAVAN VELUTHAT
AIRAVATI — Felicitation Volume in Honour of Iravatham Mahadevan: R. Kalaikkovan et al., eds., Varalaaru.com; 3/241, S.R.P.Colony, 14th Street, Jawahar Nagar, Chennai-600082. Rs. 500.
A festschrift to a scholar is not meant to certify to his status in the field; it is a way in which his admirers tell him how much they love him. This volume goes beyond such a routine exercise. That is natural. Iravatham Mahadevan belongs to that category of scholars who, giving up powerful bureaucratic positions, take to rather unassuming academic labours, pursued for their own sake. Whether in the field of the decipherment of the Indus script or that of a systematic study of the Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, Mahadevan’s is a name to conjure with. Even at a personal level, his renunciative qualities have been exhibited on occasions more than one — at least from 1965 onwards as one of the pictures included in this volume shows. It is not just about the sacrifices: he has established himself as the master of the fields that he entered. In this tribute offered to one of the most leading figures of epigraphy who, in fact, was responsible for taking the discipline to heights which can be described as truly dizzy, there are fittingly a few contributions of the highest order.
Pottery inscriptions
The volume is arranged in three sections. The first section in English contains scholarly pieces, on epigraphy, numismatics, literature, iconography and architecture. The second section, in Tamil, similarly contains essays in architecture, literature, journalism and a couple of his personal reminiscences. The third section, which is bilingual, contains a profile of Mahadevan, an interview with him, an essay on him in pictures, bibliographies of his writings as well as subjects close to his heart, a couple of reviews of his magnum opus on early Tamil epigraphy and a few of his articles. Some of the essays presented in section one are worth being described as landmark contributions.
Y. Subbarayalu’s piece, “Pottery Inscriptions of Tamil Nadu – a Comparative View”, is among these; it is also a most fitting tribute to the doyen of Tamil Brahmi epigraphy. Presenting a comprehensive account of the inscriptions on potsherds in Brahmi/Tamil Brahmi characters, Subbarayalu makes a definitive study of these inscriptions: their palaeography and orthography, chronology, purpose, the identity of those whose names are written on these pots, and so on.
In the course of delineating these, he demonstrates that the source of inspiration for the writing was indeed from North India, that there is a predominance of Prakrit-derived names among those inscribed, that the script of Brahmi was adapted to the phonology of Tamil and that the role of North Indian merchants and the Jain faith was crucial in these developments. This essay also shows that even when paying a tribute to such a giant as Mahadevan, one does not have to insult him by repeating whatever he has said, for instance, about the universality of literacy in early Tamizhakam. Questioning a master is to rejoin him.
Jain architecture
Romila Thapar discusses the implications of the occurrence of the label “of a king Asoka” in the newly excavated stupa site of Kanaganahalli in Karnataka. Thapar uses these labels, dating palaeographically about two centuries later than the monarch, to show how a later generation articulated its perception of the recent past and how it appropriated that history for different purposes. Combining the results of the most recent research and an insight into the consciousness of the past in ancient societies, Thapar also shows the implications of various other motifs used in the panels. Similarly, R. Champakalakshmi traces, with meticulous documentation, the growth of Jain architectural traditions from natural caverns to rock-cut and structural temples, and places this evolution within its historical context.
On Indus script
Asko Parpola’s reply to Steve Farmer and others, who argue that the Indus ‘script’ was not a writing system, is another good tribute to Mahadevan, whose labours in the field of deciphering that script get defended there. Gregory Possehl provides further support to this and hopes, from the experience of a translator of Harappan language present in Akkadian records that bilingual records may turn up and solve the mystery once and for all. Michael Lockwood’s account of the evolution of the Pallava Grantha script is useful although one may not be able to go all the way with him in identifying an individual as responsible for inventing that script. Alexander Dubyanskiy’s work on the tutu poems in Tamil is useful.
That a few articles are taken up here for particular mention is not as if the others are less worthy. The bibliographies of Mahadevan’s writings and on Indus script are of great use to the scholar. Alphabetical order of the second name of authors may not be the best way to arrange articles. The poor quality pictures and the lack of professionalism in production are a disgrace to the present age of advanced technology and may well border on disrespect to the subject.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Book Review
