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Fieldwork in Tamil Nadu, January-February 2026

— A blogpost by Renato Dávalos —

In January and February, a fieldwork mission throughout Tamil Nadu was carried out by Renato Dávalos to locate, read in situ and document Tamil inscriptions related to the public recitation of devotional hymns and the stories of the Tamil Śaiva saints. Part of the fieldwork was carried out during workshops held in Pondicherry and Kanchipuram and involved several members from the DHARMA Project and from other projects.

First phase – Revising transcripts from the ASI, Mysore

From 26th to 30th January, the work was carried out at the Archaeological Survey of India, Mysore, along with Margherita Trento, Head of the Department of Indology at the Institut français de Pondichéry. The main purpose of the visit was to review transcripts of inscriptions connected with a Śiva temple in Nallur and inscriptions from the Gomuktīśvara temple at Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai.

The phase was especially useful for the current work being done with the unpublished inscriptions of Nallur, as well as the organisation of the several dozens of fragments localised in the Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai temple.

Second phase – Visit to Kanchipuram

The next stage of the fieldwork was within the workshop organised under the Project “Hindu Temples in South India” (University of Heidelberg – École française d’Extrême-Orient). The visit brought together members of the DHARMA project, local collaborators, and invited scholars and students from India and abroad. Among the participants were Dominic Goodall, Ute Hüsken, Charlotte Schmid, Peter Bisschop, Suganya Anandakirchen, and Margherita Trento.

During this trip to Kanchipuram, we visited several temple sites. Our first stop was Kuraṅkaṇilmuṭṭam (Fig. 1), where a Pallava-era cave, a Chola temple and a stone slab from the Vijayanagara period can be found in close proximity.

Figure 1. Label inscription on the lintel of the south entrance to the central shrine (Kuraṅkaṇilmuṭṭam).

Our next stop was the famous Kailāsanātha temple (Fig 2.), on the west side of Kanchipuram. As we made our way through this rich architecture of the site, Charlotte Schmid (EFEO, Paris) gave a thorough explanation to some of its important sculptural panels. That afternoon, we wandered around the city and visited several other smaller sites close to the Ekāmranātha temple.

During the next two days, we visited some of the most important temples of Kanchipuram. In the Ekāmranātha temple, we were able to photograph a sculptural panel, probably belonging to the Vijayanagara period, that depicts the story of Ciṟuttoṇṭar, the Śaiva devotee that is said to have cooked his own son to feed Śiva in the guise of a wandering ascetic (Fig. 3). Other important temples visited were the Varadarāja Perumāḷ, the Kaccapeśvara, Ulakaḷanta temple, among others.

Figure 3. Saint Ciṟuttoṇṭar and his wife killing their son to prepare food for their guest, panel at Ekāmranātha temple.

Third phase – Nallūr trip

For the third year in a row, Task Force A went to the temple, with Margherita Trento (IFP, Pondicherry), Renato Dávalos (Task Force A) and Yunheng Xu (University of Heidelberg) taking part this time. The aim was to complete the edition of the 25 unpublished inscriptions and review some passages that were difficult to read, both in the transcriptions held at the ASI in Mysore and in the previous photographic record. The aim was also to gain a better understanding of the spatial layout of the temple and its surroundings (Fig. 4). We were also able to talk to people connected with the temple to try to learn more about the site, its history and its current state. The people who knew about the site helped to explain its history in the early decades of the 20th century.

Figure 4. Southern branch of the Gomukhi river, Nallur.

Fourth phase – Brahmi inscriptions

One day was devoted to searching for Brahmi inscriptions in the vicinity of Pondicherry, under the guidance of Charlotte Schmid. Renato Dávalos, Dominic Goodall (EFEO, Pondicherry), Ingo Strauch (University of Lausanne) and Margherita Trento also took part in this trip. The trip included visits to Nēkaṉūrpaṭṭi, Paṟaiyaṉpaṭṭu and Toṇḍūr. These sites offered a different perspective on the medieval inscription materials we work with, whilst also allowing us to examine inscriptions in Tamil-Brahmi (Fig. 5), Vaṭṭeḻuttu and, furthermore, in medieval Tamil, all in a single trip.

Figure 5. Inscription from Nēkaṉūr Paṭṭi (ca. 4th century). The inscription mentions the construction of a hermitage (paḷḷi) by a female donor.

Fifth phase – Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai

The final phase of the fieldwork included a visit to the Gomuktīśvara temple in Tiruvāvaṭutuṟai by Renato Dávalos and Margherita Trento. The aim was, on the one hand, to continue the photographic documentation of the inscriptions on the outer wall of the first prakāra (Fig. 6), which we successfully completed. On the other hand, we also had an audience with the Mahā Sannidhānam, who granted us his approval to complete the photographic record of the inscriptions at the Ātmanāthasvāmi temple in Avudaiyarkoyil (next summer). The team also saw first-hand the latest repairs to the Adheenam library and took photographs of certain manuscripts.

Various inscriptions at the Gomuktīśvara temple frequently mention the neighbouring village of Cāttaṉūr, so we also set out to visit this ancient village, which is also known because tradition holds it to be the birthplace of the saint Tirumūlar, author of the Tirumantiram and one of the sixty-three nāyaṉmār.

Figure 6. South wall of the first prakāra of the Gomuktīśvara temple


OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Emmanuel Francis (March 27, 2026). Fieldwork in Tamil Nadu, January-February 2026. DHARMA project ERC n° 809994. Retrieved May 18, 2026 from https://doi.org/10.58079/15ypr


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