Epigraphy or incision of text on a hard surface like clay tablet,metal plate or a rock was a common practice for keeping literary records in all popular civilisations from Indus valley in the east to the Mayan civilisation in the west. Ever since the beginning of the human history, literary sources are considered to be the most valuable and reliable sources of information. Although in Indian subcontinent, there are evidences of written manuscripts which dates back to 1000BCE, but some archeologist believes that the languages used in these manuscripts are derivates of an older, much simpler parent language. While the ancient manuscripts from Indus valley is still to be decoded properly, the two oldest recognisable language from Indian subcontinent are Sanskrit and Tamil, written in various scripts like Dravidian, Devanagari, Brahmi and Prakrit. While Sanskrit was dominant in the North- Western part of the Indian subcontinent, Tamil dominated the South-Eastern part of it. Tamil is the oldest subcontinental language which is spoken till date. It has evidences to be found at around 300 BCE.

During the Pandyan rule of around 1200 years, the Thamizh script had changed drastically and is still going through a lot of of changes. The city of Madurai, which has long been the Pandyan capital is the best place to visit, to know the evolution of Tamil script. The inscription at Samanar malai has from 4th century AD in “vattezhuthu” has Jain aesthetic where as the inscription on the walls of eastern gate of Meenakshiamman temple has inscriptions which is from 12th century AD is quite similar to modern Tamil.
These Tamil epigraphs showed us how a script can play an major role in evolving a language over a course of time. These manuscripts also made us realise how important the art and skill of epigraphy was. Epigraphy is currently no longer practiced but this skill based art is the reason why we know what we know about our history.

Documented by Kritarth Ghosh

The most ancient and imposing surviving artifacts and monuments are made from stones. Stone carving has been an ancient craft in the Kanchipuram district due to the patronage of religious architecture and sculptures by the ruling dynasties South India. Black and Red Granite are locally available that are used in carving tombstones, letters and gravestones, idols of deities and grinding stones. The skills of carving idols are unique in Tamil Nadu as the carving tradition is still true to translating the sacred scriptures. The beautiful temples that dot the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu have lent the state the sobriquet of “land of temples”. 




The art of sculpting runs in the blood of the locals in Mamallapuram. Even today the stone carvers of Tamil Nadu begin with a prayer that first begs forgiveness from Mother Earth for cutting the stone.The stone cutter starts by locating a good stone quarry. Metal pegs are hammered in a straight line into the rock at intervals. Water is poured onto the rock to wet it. The roughly shaped blocks are then transported to the workshop for more careful shaping.The quality of the stone is checked. The way in which the rock is formed dictates its hardness and textures. The easiest to carve are metamorphic rocks that have been changed by compression, heat or chemical action over millennia. This includes soapstones and marble. 
After bringing to the workshop stone is roughly leveled and the figure that has to be carved out is drawn with a mixture of red oxide and water by the meter craftsman. After making a rough figure on the stone they mark exact proportions of the body posture on it. Once the basic form of the idol is carved and chiseled out, the fine details are taken care of. For this, the tools being used are mainly chisel and hammer. Different kinds of chisel - Varying sizes of heads and a hammer according to the size of the chisel. These basic details include the depth the face, the ornaments, the hands and the legs, and depth whatever needed.In every workshop around 300 chisels are estimated to be in use.The surface of the form is now smoothened before finer details are carved onto it and then The final piece of art is polished by rubbing with sandpaper or carborundum stone.After so many process dedication and hard work, the sculpture is ready. It has to be packed properly and delivered to the customer so that it remains safe from inside and nothing gets damaged. 
 They spend so many days to make a masterpiece which is incredible. The patience that they have and the hard work they do is speechless. It's really not an easy job to do. The craft is in right hands because they do justice to it.The maintained the authenticity of the craft and dedicated their lives to it. The finished sculpture looks so beautiful and the person who sees, they can feel the hard work and dedication behind it. 



The people of Mahabalipuram don't perform this craft just to earn money. They do it because they respect it and it is there on their blood. There are many shops that manufacture these sculptures and export to different foreign countries also. So if you are looking for such beautiful sculptures and want to explore this craft, you are at right place. Mr. K. Shanmugam Sthapathy is one the best manufactures who is practicing this craft since 45 years in Mahabalipuram and exports sculptures to Bangkok, Singapore, Malaysia, France, Dubai and many other places. They provide a variety of designs according to the need of the customers and makes sure that the sculpture is made up of the best quality of the stone. Their store and workshop are government approved as it is continuously working on this craft for many years. 

Contact
K. Shanmugam Sthapathy
Address: ECR.Kovalam road, Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu 603104. 
9789048383, 9445735051
Working Hours: 6:00 am To 9:00 pm

Documented by Sanskriti Agarwal