6 



Account of Mamallaipur. 



[No. 30. 



After considerable trouble Dr. Babington himself succeeded 

 in doing so. 



It might reasonably have been expected that these Inscrip- 

 tions would have thrown some light on the origin or probable 

 age of the sculptures, excavations and themselves. They 

 afford no very precise information at all. The appellations 

 given to the prince or princes who " caused the erections," 

 are mere epithets, by which no individual can with certainty 

 be identified, (vide Mr. Taylor's note d) ; and were it possible 

 to do this, the chronology must still be in a very great degree 

 theoretical. I perfectly agree in opinion with Mr. Taylor that 

 there is little in the sculptures themselves, if we except the Ba- 

 thas, the Varaha Swami Pagoda, the Ganesa temple and the 

 temple atSalvan Cuppam,to justify the supposition of their very 

 great antiquity. Most of them are in the most perfect preserva- 

 ( tion, and present a freshness of appearance which creates an in- 

 voluntary idea of their almost recent execution. The sub- 

 jects of the sculptures to t o are an evidence that they are not 

 of very remote antiquity. They are representations of va- 

 rious personages and incidents in Hindu mythology, and are 

 chiefly borrowed from the famous poem the Mahabharata. 

 This and the language of the inscriptions which is Sanscrit, or 

 Tamul with Sanscrit derivatives, mark the presence of the Brah- 

 manical faith. Now it appears from Mr. Taylor's researches 

 that previous to the Seventh Century of the Christian Era, the 

 whole of the district in which Mamallaipur stands was oc- 

 cupied by thv Curumbas, a half-civilised people of the Jaina 

 religion ; and it was about that period or probably later, that 

 under the auspices of Adondai, a prince whose capitals were 

 Conjeveram and Tripeti, the Brahmans were introduced into 

 this part of the country. The extent of the works, and the 

 labor and expence bestowed on them seem to indicate a long 

 established Brahmanical influence ; and it will be seen, from 

 Mr. Taylor's note (c), that an historical paper amongst the 

 Mackenzie MSS. affords grounds for supposing that at least 



