Tamil Brahmi Project:
These images were made as part of a project to visually document Tamil Brahmi inscriptions and their associated landscapes. These inscriptions are primarily located in remote places around Tamil Nadu and in one location in Kerala.
Tamil Brahmi is the original script of the Tamil language and the first written words in Tamil were made using it. These inscriptions date from the 3 BCE to 3rd BE. During this period Jainism had a strong presence in South India. Often but not always many of these inscriptions were made in the caves and rock beds where Jain monks lived. Documenting this vital and important heritage has become critical due to the constant threat of mining and the general apathy towards our archaeological past .
The project was commissioned by the Central Institute for Classical Tamil (CICT), Chennai, an autonomous institution under the Department of Culture, Ministry Of Human Resource Development Government of India and implemented through PPST, Chennai. The project was lead by MV Bhaskar.
