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Arachalur Musical Inscription

Coordinates: 11°10′23″N 77°42′00″E / 11.173°N 77.7°E / 11.173; 77.7
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Arachalur Rock-cut Musical Inscription
Religion
AffiliationHinduism, Jainism
Location
LocationNagamalai, Arachalur, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Arachalur Musical Inscription is located in Tamil Nadu
Arachalur Musical Inscription
Shown within Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates11°10′23″N 77°42′00″E / 11.173°N 77.7°E / 11.173; 77.7
Architecture
Completed2nd century AD

Arachalur Rock-cut Cave Musical Inscription, also known as Arachalur Isai Kalvettu is a rock cut historical site of musical inscriptions at the south of Nagamalai hill in Arachalur Reserve Forest near Erode in Tamil Nadu, India.[1][2]

The Inscriptions

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There are three 2nd century CE Jain inscriptions in Arachalur, which Dr. S. Raju discovered. On a Jain bed in the Arachalur hills, is an inscription — ‘ezhuthum punaruthan maniya vannakkan devan sathan.’ The word ‘punaruthan’ is an alteration of punarthan, which means organised.[3] The other two inscriptions have musical syllables, which are the same when read from left to right, and vice versa; they are also the same when read from the top of a column to the bottom and vice versa. These two inscriptions show that 'Maniyan Vannakkan Devan Sathan' organised musical syllables.[4] "This inscription, which belongs to the same period as Silappadikaram, is centuries older than the 'Kudumiyamalai inscriptions' on music, and yet the Arachalur inscription hardly draws visitors," rues Dr.S. Raju.[3][5]

Location

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Digital images obtained by 3D scanning of the three 3-4th century Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions at Arachalur
Digital images obtained by 3D scanning of the three 3-4th century Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions at Arachalur
Digital image obtained by 3D scanning of the 3-4th century Tamil-Brahmi "musical" inscription
Digital image obtained by 3D scanning of the 3-4th century Tamil-Brahmi Arachalur Tevan Cattan inscription

The site is located on the Erode-Palani State Highway-83A about 20 km from Erode Central Bus Terminus and 18 km from Erode Junction railway station.

References

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  1. ^ "TN Archaeology - Arachalur" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Tamil Navigation". Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b Krishnamachari, Suganthy (12 October 2017). "On how Kongu Nadu was a Jain bastion". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2019.
  4. ^ "11°10'19.6"N 77°41'28.7"E". 11°10'19.6"N 77°41'28.7"E. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
  5. ^ "ஈரோடு இசை கல்வெட்டு | Erode Music inscription | Tamilnavigation - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 5 November 2020.