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= Tamatakallu Gunamadhura Inscription =

Tamatakallu Gunamadhura inscription located in Tamatakallu village, Chitradurga district in Karnataka is one of the most prominent Kannada inscriptions. It records several firsts in Kannada epigraphical history. it is the oldest Kannada hero-stone inscription, oldest Kannada inscription that records a metered verse and also the oldest Tamil inscription to be found in Karnataka, inscribed in the Vatteluttu script. The inscriptions are a set of two inscriptions, the first inscription is a prashasti in a chandassu (metered verse) that extempores Gunamadhura's personality and virtues. The second is a herostone inscription that has a sculpture of Gunamadhura with two other men, they are depicted in a battlefield.

Discovery and dating
It was first documented in 1903 in Vol 11, Epigraphia Carnatica under the Chitradurga Inscriptions 41,42. Dr. Devarakonda Reddy and Dr. R. Sheshashastri re-read the inscription and published a detailed article in the journal Sadhana, Vol. 10, No. 3. inscriptions have undergone physical conservation by the Karnataka State Department of Archaeology with the help of locals. Recently, local authorities provided shade by installing a sheet roof. It was subsequently digitally archived by the Mythic society 3D conservation team in 2024. The inscription is paleographically dated to 500CE.

Transliteration of the inscription
The text is published in the Quarterly Journal of the Mythic society.

The transliteration of the Gunamadhura Prashasti inscription. The transliteration of the Gunamadhura hero-stone inscription.

Importance of the Inscriptions
The inscription being the first Kannada inscription to record a metered verse (chandassu), is in the atyaṣṭi chandassu. The Tamil inscription has been suggested by Iravatham Mahadevan that it might be the name of the inscription writer or sculptor. The historical information in the inscription records the valor of Gunamadhura, as belonging to the Bharadvaja clan and the son of Dhanaga, chieftain of the town of Masikka, who was renowned for his qualities of truthfulness, sacrifice, and generosity.