Arachalur Musical Inscription

Arachalur Rock-cut Musical Inscription
Religion
Affiliation	Hinduism, Jainism
Location
Location	Nagamalai, Arachalur, Erode, Tamil Nadu, India
Shown within Tamil Nadu
Geographic coordinates	11°10′23″N77°42′00″E / 11.173°N 77.7°E / 11.173; 77.7
Architecture
Completed	2nd 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

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

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

1. "TN Archaeology - Arachalur" (PDF). Retrieved 27 June 2021.
2. "Tamil Navigation". 21 November 2020. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
3. 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. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2020.