Tamil Nadu News

Courtallam Cave Inscription

May 7 , 2026 15 hrs 0 min 15 0

An ancient inscription in Courtallam Hills has been successfully deciphered after remaining unread for many years.
The discovery was decoded by K. Balakrishnan and Mathur B. Pavendan after 2.5 years of detailed research.
The inscription is located in the Sanyasi Pudavu cave at around 1000 m elevation.
It uses the Prakrit-Brahmi script with modified diacritic marks to represent Tamil language words.
Researchers identified 14 out of 15 characters and used mathematical methods and comparison with Sanskrit and Pali to decode them.
The message highlights wisdom and unity, stating that knowledge remains the same even if taken from different sources.
The cave and inscription were earlier mentioned in the 1917 Tinnevelly Gazetteer during British rule.