Vazhappally copper plate


Vazhappally copper plate is a copper plate inscription in Malayalam language from Vazhappally, in the state of Kerala, south India. It is one of the earliest available epigraphical records mentioning a Chera Perumal ruler of Kerala. Recent scholarship puts the date of the plate in c. 882/83 AD.
The inscription is engraved on a single copper plate in an early form of Malayalam in Vattezhuthu script with some Grantha characters. The contents of the plate are incomplete. The inscription was discovered by V. Srinivasa Sastri from Talamana Illam near Changanassery. The plate is owned by Muvidathu Madham, Thiruvalla.
The record is dated to the twelfth regnal year of king Rajasekhara.
The Vattezhuthu characters in the Vazhappally copper plate are noted for their similarity to the Madras Museum Plates of Jatila Varman Parantaka Pandya. The Grantha characters in the plate have a late character with respect to the Kasakudi and other early Pallava grants. The plate also resembles Quilon Syrian copper plates in script and language.
Chera/Perumal king Rajasekhara is usually identified by scholars with Cheraman Perumal Nayanar, the venerated Shaiva poet-musician.

Translation