# Art Institute of Chicago bronze Buddha statue, label

Emmanuel Francis

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00169

Repository: Tamil Nadu (varia) (tfa-tamilnadu-epigraphy)

File path: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00169.xml

Language: Tamil [Grantha, Tamil]

Commit: 2026-11-15 15:59 (9615181), last modified 2026-11-15 14:12
(673543d)

## Summary

Inscription recording the pious donation (dharma) of Nācciyāṇaṉ.
Engraved on the pedestal of a bronze Buddha statue kept in the Art
Institute of Chicago (access no. 2021.240).

------------------------------------------------------------------------

## Edition

⟨1⟩ vaṇṇakkanācciyā⟨2⟩ṇaṉ dha⟨r⟩mmaM

## Apparatus

⟨1⟩ °nācciyā⟨2⟩ṇaṉ ⬦ nācciyā⟨2⟩ṇa(ṉ/ṉa) C • C notes: “Given the label’s
lack of the puḷḷi, it is undecidable whether the name ends in its stem
consonant or with the adjectival/genitive ending -a; the possessive
sense is, at any rate, clear.”

⟨2⟩ dha⟨r⟩mmaM ⬦ dhammam C.

## Translation

⟨1–2⟩ ⟨This is the⟩ pious donation of Nācciyāṇaṉ, the coin tester
(vaṇṇakkaṉ).

## Bibliography

Edited and translated in Cox 2025 (p. 485), with photograph (fig. 8, p.
503).

This digital edition by Emmanuel Francis based on documentation kindly
supplied by Nicolas Revire and on Cox 2025.

### Primary

[C] Cox, Whitney. 2025. “Bricks from a Tamil Pagoda.” In: For the Love
of Tamil: Essays in Honor of E. Annamalai. Edited by Margherita Trento.
Napoli: UniorPress, pp. 479–504.