# Nākappaṭṭiṉam, bronze label

Emmanuel Francis

Author of digital edition: Emmanuel Francis

Identifier: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00345

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

File path: DHARMA_INSTamilNadu00345.xml

Language: Tamil [Tamil]

Commit: 2026-11-09 18:23 (fbd1441), last modified 2026-09-29 11:10
(5251b7d)

## Summary

Label on a Buddhist bronze.

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## Edition

⟨1⟩ Eḻutum nam-piḷḷai-tēvar

## Translation by Ramachandran 1954

⟨1⟩ The Tēvar (i.e., God) set up by or donated or dedicated by the
writer (accountant or clerk), Nampiḷḷai.

## Translation

⟨1⟩ The God ⟨of⟩ the writer (eḻutum[1]) Nampiḷḷai.

## Commentary

Ramachandran 1954 comments thus: “The donor’s profession is indicated in
this inscription as that of a writer. By Tēvar is meant the Great
Śramaṇa, Lord Buddha himself.”

## Bibliography

Edited in Ramachandran 1954, with a facsimile.

Edited and translated here by Emmanuel Francis (2024), based on
Ramachandran 1954 and the facsimile therein.

### Primary

[R1] Ramachandran, T. N. 1954. The Nāgapaṭṭiṇam and other Buddhist
bronzes in the Chennai Museum. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum,
New series, General section 7.1. Madras: Government Press. Page TBC,
plate TBC.

[R2] Ramachandran, T. N. 2005. The Nāgapaṭṭiṇam and other Buddhist
bronzes in the Chennai Museum. Revised edition. Chennai: Government of
Tamilnadu. Page 54, plates V, no. 45.

[1] Literally: "who writes."