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196
No. 258
Village
Taluk
District
Findspot
Dynasty
King
Date
Language and Script
Contents
Reference
Remarks
Tirupparankungam
Madurai
Jaina Inscriptions in Tamilnadu
Madurai
On the pillowside of the rock-cut bed in the lower cavern.
1st - 2nd centuries A.D.
Tamil, Brahmi
Pola laiyan (of) Erukātür, a householder (from) Ceylon gave (this); Ay, Cayan (and) Neţucatan (made this).
ARE, 333/1908,
I. Mahadevan, op. cit., Tirupparankungam, No. 4,
T. V. Mahalingam, op. cit., pp. 251-255.
It is interesting to observe that this record mentions the donor as a house holder from Ceylon (ilakuṭumpikan) and a resident of Erukāṭṭür. The contact between Tamil country and Ilam in the early centuries of the Christian era is thus apparent. Erukāṭṭūr may be the native village of the Tamil poet Tāyankaņṇanar whose poems are included in Ahananuṛu.
