About 40 kms away from Keezhadi, archaeologists excavating Kinnimangalam, near Madurai, have stumbled upon what is believed to be the first-ever pallipadai inscription.
According to the Archaeological Department, the inscription found at Kinnimangalam contains references to the first ‘pallipadai‘ inscription. Pallipadai is sepulchral shrine (a Shiva temple) built on the cemetery of a king.
Archaeologists say that the details engraved on a stone pillar date back to the period between 2nd century to 1st century BCE and hence said to be oldest pallipadai discovered in Tamil Nadu.
The pillar with Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and another with ‘Vattezhuthu’ were found in the Ekanathan Mutt temple premises a few weeks ago.
The words ‘Egan Aadhan Kottam’ (region or territory of a king or chieftain) are inscribed in the pillar. Even though ‘Adhan’ commonly appears in Brahmi inscriptions in Tamil Nadu, the ‘Kottam’ word has been found for the first time on an inscription slab.
Another ‘Vattaezhuthu’ inscription, said to belong to the 7th or 8th century CE was also found and it contained the word ‘pallipadai’ (sepulchral shrine). The inscription, found on a broken pillar in a mutt, is said to belong to the 7th or 8th century CE. This is the first time that the word ‘pallipadai‘ written in Vattaezhuthu has been discovered.
Similarly, excavation conducted on the 19th of last month in a temple premise revealed an inscription dating back to the period of Visayaranga Sokkanathan of 1722 AD. It contained the words ‘pallipadai’ and ‘samadhi’. The temple is said to have been constructed in memory of a single family.