Memorial stone found in mutt certified Tamil Nadu’s oldest

MADURAI: The state department of archaeology has certified that the stone pillar found in a Pallipadai mutt in Kinnimangalam village in Madurai, with inscriptions in Tamil Brahmi relating to the period between second century BC and first century BC, is the oldest memorial stone to be discovered in Tamil Nadu till date.
Deputy director of archaeology R Sivanandam said the pillar with inscriptions in Tamili or Tamil brahmi letters and another with ‘vatteluthu’ were found on the premises of Ekanathan mutt temple in Kinnimangalam village, about 20 kms from Madurai, a few weeks ago.Four Tamil Brahmi letters inscribed on the stone have a ‘pulli’ or dot on top. Many archaeologists have agreed that the Tamil brahmi inscriptions pertained to the period between 2nd century BC and 1st century BC.
“Ekan Athan Kottam”, which means the region or territory of Ekan Athan which refers to a king or chieftain of the region, is inscribed in the pillar. Even though ‘Athan’ is a common name that appears in many Brahmi inscriptions found in Tamil Nadu, this is the first time ‘Kottam’ has figured on an inscription slab
The other stone-inscribed pillar, belonging to the period between 7th century AD and 8th century AD, has the words, ``Irayili Ehanathan Pallipadai Mandali ienthar’’ in vatteluthu’. This makes it the first pillar to have the word ‘Pallipadai’ mentioned in it, a word used to describe memorials. This is cited as proof of it being the first such memorial to be found in Tamil Nadu, that too in Madurai which was part of the Pandiya dynasty.
Many more inscriptions were being found on the temple premises, like a recent find on August 19 pertaining to the period of Vijayaranga Sokkanathar — 1722 AD. It has 43 lines inscribed on it, where the words ‘Pallipadai’ and ‘Samadhi’ have been used frequently. Hence, it is understood that the mutt temple was constructed in memory of a single family. Another stone inscription dated 1942 also has the words “Jeeva samadhi’’ inscribed on it. Till date this temple is known as a samadhi temple.