Peculiarities of Ancient Medieval Inscription...

Peculiarities of Ancient Medieval Inscription Language

Author Name : Dr. K Mini

INTRODUCTION Inscriptions have played a major role in shedding light on the cultural heritage of Kerala. They are very useful in reconstructing the history of the Second Chera Dynasty (800-102 AD) and in understanding the workings of local churches and educational institutions such as schools, religious ceremonies, temple arts, the Devadasi system, and landlord-tenant relations. Inscriptions can be seen as a collection of established principles for articulating the life history of antiquity. Some of the inscriptions are instances of the religious tolerance of the rulers of Kerala and the many political and social trends that existed here. Inscriptions make a significant contribution to facilitating the study of the development of old scripts such as the Malayalam script. The inscriptions show the various aspects of Kerala's relations with other South Indian powers and the influence that those forces had on the dynamics of Kerala. The chronological calendar of Kerala, such as the Kali varsham, kollavarsham(also known as Kollam era/ Malayalam era) and puduveipu era are unique and evident in the Sasanam or inscriptions.