Current Version: draft, 2024-04-22Z
Editor: Emmanuel Francis.
DHARMA Identifier: INSPallava00226
Summary: Donation of land in honour of a man who performed ritual suicide in honour of the Goddess.
Hand Description:
Medial i and ī, u and ū are not clearly distinguished and are interchangeable.
Alternative identifier:
Origin:
Classification:
Languages:
Corresponding Artefact:
Layout:
ka(m)paparuma(ṟ)ku (yā)ṇṭu Iru-pa¿t?⟨tt⟩-āvatu
(pa)ṭṭai-pō(t)-
2[ta](ṉu)kku Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkat¡i!⟨ī⟩n=taṉ paṭṭai-pō(t)taṉ mē-
3(tavam) purintat’ eṉṟu bhaṭārikku nava-k-kaṇṭaṅ kuṭuttu
4[ku](ṉṟaka-t)-talai Aṟuttu-p p¡i!⟨ī⟩ṭ¿a?⟨i⟩likai mēl vaittāṉukku (ti)-
5[ru]vāṉm¡u!⟨ū⟩r Ūrār vaitta paric-āvatu
Em¡u!⟨ū⟩r-p paṟai koṭṭi-k kal-(mē)-
6[ṭu] (ceytār ā)vikku-k kuṭu(p)pār āṉār
pōttaṉaṅ kiḻavarkaḷum to(ṟu)-
7-(p-pa)ṭṭi nilam kuṭu(t)tārkaḷ
Itu Aṉṟ’ eṉṟār kaṅkai-y-iṭai-k kumari-
8-[y]-iṭ(ai) Ēḻu-nūṟṟu-k kātamum ceyt(ā)ṉ ceyta pāvattu-p paṭuv[ār]
9Aṉṟ’ eṉṟār Aṉṟ’ āḷ-kōvukku kāṟ-p-po-
10(ṉ) ṟaṇṭap paṭuvār
1 Fortune!
1 Twentieth year of Kampavarman.
1-5 This is the manner (paricāvatu) that the village delegates (ūrār) of Tiruvāṉmūr gave (vaitta) to Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, as is known (purintatu eṉṟu) the great penance (mētavam) [of] Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, in honour of him↓1 who gave the nine parts (nava-k-kaṇṭam) to Bhaṭāri, cut his head and offered it on the altar.
5-6 Those who, beating drums in our village, have done (ceytār) the stone mound (kal-mēṭu) have become those who give for [his] soul.
6-7 The landlords [of] Pōttaṉam are those who gave the land [named] Toṟuppaṭṭi.
7-8 He who says that this is not so will suffer in the sin done by he who does [sin within] the seven hundred leagues between the Ganges and Kumari.
7-8 He who says that [this] is not so will incur a fine (taṇṭam) of a quarter poṉ to the then ruling king.
Below the inscription is the figure of a kneeling beheaded man, with a knife in his right hand, holding by the hair his severed head in his left hand.
According to Venkatasubba Ayyar 1943, the donation is made to Paṭṭaipōttaṉ for the pious act of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, who is probably his father. It is also possible that Paṭṭaipōttaṉ and Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ are the same person, in which case the beneficiary of the land donation (possibly the Goddess Bhaṭāri or the relatives of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ) would not be explicitly mentioned in the inscription. The plain name Paṭṭaipōttaṉ would have been highlighted at the beginning of the inscription in the dative case.
4 kuṉṟaka-t-talai. It is difficult to make sense of the first part of this compound, which is unclear on the stone. It might be split into kuṉṟu (from kuṉṟu-tal, “to decrease”) and akam (“place”), qualifying the severed head, in a redundant expression compared to aṟuttu (“having cut”).
4 piṭalikai (that is, pīṭilikai). This word seems related to Sanskrit pīṭḥa (“seat, pedestal”) and appears to designate the altar for offerings (Sanskrit bali-pīṭha).
5 kal-mēṭu. Litteraly “mound (mēṭu) (made of) stone (kal).” This is possibly a kind of memorial erected in honour of Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, of which the inscribed stele would be an element.
6 pōttaṉam. This appears to be a toponym, linked to Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatintaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ, as indicated by the last element of his name.
6-7 toṟuppaṭṭi. Either a toponym indicating the location of the land given or a phrase making explicit the purpose of the land given: “land (nilam) as (grazing-)place (paṭṭi) for cattle (toṟu).”
Edited in Venkatasubba Ayyar 1943 (SII 12, no. 106), with a facsimile; text and summary in Mahalingam 1988 (IP no. 226); encoded and first translated here for DHARMA (ERC n° 809994) by Emmanuel Francis (2022), based on previous editions and published facsimiles.
↑1. That is, Okkoṇṭanākaṉ Okkatīntaṉ Paṭṭaipōttaṉ