LIPI ARTS

The Pallavas were a powerful dynasty who ruled huge parts of Southern India between the 3rd and 9th centuries CE. They commissioned monumental works of art during the 7th and 8th centuries CE. Atiranachanda Cave Temple, 5 kms to the north of Mamallapuram.

Pallavas adopted Sanskrit as their court language. They created a local script called the Pallava-grantha script to write Sanskrit. If you stand facing the monument, the inscription on your left is Sanskrit written in Pallava-grantha. The inscription on the right is Sanskrit written in Nagari. This inscription is believed to be the oldest Nagari inscription in Tamil Nadu.

This cave temple that excites Epigraphists, archaeologists who study ancient scripts. There are 2 stone inscriptions on either side of its entrance. They contain verses glorifying King Rajasimha Pallava, who commissioned this temple. Both say the SAME thing in the SAME language, Sanskrit, but in two completely DIFFERENT scripts: Pallava-Grantha and Nagari. Which made epigraphists wonder – why two scripts?

Art by Razia ( Little Girl)

23 JAN 2023





"The purpose of National Handwriting Day is to alert the public to the importance of handwriting. National Handwriting Day is a chance for all of us to re-explore the purity and power of handwriting."

The rare find that came to light during excavations in Ancient Olympia, Greece in 2018, a clay plaque that preserves 13 verses of Homer's Odyssey is on display at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia.

🔷 The plaque, which has engraved verses from the rhapsody of Odyssey, was found during the surface-geoarchaeological research, in the context of the three-year research program entitled "The multidimensional space of Olympia", which was carried out in places around the sanctuary.