[INDOLOGY] Re: Tamil tombstones inscriptions

[Bill Mak]

Many thanks to Manu and also others who replied offline. I can now compare the Tamil inscriptions with the English version as well as the content of other tombstones. What interested me initially was why the tombstones are there on the ground of a Hindu Temple in the first place. Some of the suggestions include: infant burials, military cenotaphs, memorials for wealthy family, lingayat followers who are considered Hindus but do not cremate their bodies, non-Hindu spouses and children, etc.

-- 
Bill M. Mak

Needham Research Institute
8 Sylvester Road
Cambridge, CB3 9AF
United Kingdom

Robinson College
Cambridge University
Grange Road, Cambridge, CB3 9AN
United Kingdom

Tel:+44-1223768229

http://www.billmak.com <http://www.billmak.com/>
https://needham.academia.edu/BillMak

> On 23 Feb 2021, at 21:16, Manu Francis <manufrancis at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Hi Bill,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for this interesting material!
> 
> I am willing to contribute ... if time permits ;-)
> 
> Could you share more (and higher-resolution) pictures?
> 
>  
> Here is my quick reading and translation of one of these (“image3”).
> 
>  
> (1) {piḷḷaiyār cūḻi}
> 
> (2) civalōkam· –
> 
> (3) pōṇavar·kaḷ· A-
> 
> (4) ṭaiyāḷam· –
> 
> (5) mut·tiyaṉ· Iraṇ- –  
> 
> (6) ṭāvatu kumāṟaṉ
> 
> (7) cantirappiḷḷai –
> 
> (8) yeṟanta nāḷ …
> 
> (9) …
> 
>  
> Sign/mark [of/for] one who has gone [to]/ reached the Śivalōka.
> 
> The day when Cantirappiḷḷai, the son of Muttiyaṉ the second, died (yeṟanta, i.e. iṟanta) [is] … [the date appears to be stated in lines 8-9, which I am unable to read.]
> 
>  
> As for references, you could check
> 
> Cotton, Julian James. List of Inscriptions on Tombs or Monuments in Madras: Possessing
> 
> Historical or Archaeological Interest. 2 vols. Edited by B. S. Baliga. Madras: Government
> 
> Press, 1946. [available, I think, on internet archives]
> 
>  
> Here are some pictures of late-20th/21st-century epitaphs, dating back to the good old days when fieldwork in India was possible. These were taken at the entrance of an Aiyanar temple in Pudukkottai district, between Kīraṉūr and Virālimalai:
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qky65bxbtg5ex8b/AADuTv5N2cXPZ8UDg6-CGTUEa?dl=0 <https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qky65bxbtg5ex8b/AADuTv5N2cXPZ8UDg6-CGTUEa?dl=0>
> Maybe knowledgeable colleagues in this list might enlighten me on this practice.
> 
>  
> With very best wishes.
> 
>  
> Manu
> 
> 
> 
> Emmanuel FRANCIS <http://ceias.ehess.fr/index.php?1725>
> Chargé de recherche CNRS, Centre d'études de l'Inde et de l'Asie du Sud <http://ceias.ehess.fr/> (UMR 8564, EHESS-CNRS, Paris) 
> Online CV HAL <https://cv.archives-ouvertes.fr/emmanuel-francis>
> DHARMA <https://dharma.hypotheses.org/> Project <https://dharma.hypotheses.org/> (ERC synergy grant 2018)
> TST Project <https://tst.hypotheses.org/> (FRAL 2018, ANR & DFG)
> Regionalism & Cosmopolitism: South India <http://rcsi.hypotheses.org/>
> Associate member, Centre for the Study of Manuscript Culture <http://www.manuscript-cultures.uni-hamburg.de/index_e.html>
> 
> 
> Le mar. 23 févr. 2021 à 05:29, Bill Mak <bill.m.mak at gmail.com <mailto:bill.m.mak at gmail.com>> a écrit :
> Dear friends,
> I am helping the local Hindu Association to catalogue some 19th century tombstones here in Hong Kong. I wonder if someone could help me to transcribe the Tamil inscription and to direct me to some resources on the practice of tombstone inscription in Tamil. I include some photos here. Please contact me either on or off list.
> Many thanks,
> Bill Mak
> 
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