A pillar inscription in Tulu has been found at Sri Hire Mahalingeshwara Temple at Kota in Udupi district.
In a release here recently, T. Murugeshi, Associate Professor with the Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, MSRS College, Shirva, said Tulu was an important Dravidian language. Amid the misconception that there was no script for Tulu, the discovery of the new inscription gained significance, he said.
The relic was found during a study tour of inscriptions held in association with Udupi-based National Trust for Computation and Archival of Oriental Media, on the premises of Sri Hire Mahalingeshwara Temple in Kota on February 28. A total of 27 lines are written in Kannada and Tulu scripts on the two sides of this pillar inscription. This undated inscription records a gift to the temple deity at Kota for the maintenance of a hand-lamp (“kai-velaku”) by King Kulashekharaluva, a ruler of the Alupa dynasty. An inscription related to this ruler dating back to 1175-76 A.D. was found earlier in Basrur village, which praised him as an emperor (“chakravartin”).
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But the inscription in Kota calls him by name without any titles or epithets. So this inscription may be considered older than the Basrur inscription.
Mr. Murugeshi thanked managing trustee of the temple Ganesh Bhat, priest Srinivasa Adiga, and his students Suma, Sangeetha, Sridhar Bhat and Prashanth Shetty for their support in finding this inscription.