Portuguese, Halegannada inscriptions found in Mangaluru

Two inscriptions, one in Portuguese and another in Halegannada (Old Kannada) have been found on the technology wing campus of the College of Fisheries at Hoige Bazar in the city.

A team of inscription experts from Mysuru have taken the estampage of the inscription to conduct an in-depth study. According to the preliminary studies, the Kannada inscription has 11 lines and belongs to the 11th century. There is a need to conduct an in-depth study into the inscription in the Portuguese language, experts Sridevi Tejaswini and Veera Manikantan said.

The inscriptions were unearthed during an excavation work taken up after demolishing an old building for the construction of a skill development and safety training centre taken up under the Smart City project.

Fisheries College Dean Senthil Vel said that the inscriptions are five foot tall and are kept on a side where the work on the building has been taken up.

"On March 13, the inscriptions were noticed by Shreyas, a third-year BFSc student and he had clicked a photo on his mobile phone and brought it to my notice. I immediately sent an email to the PMO's office. Within 10 minutes, I received a reply stating that Archaeological Survey of India director general Vidyavathi has directed ASI experts in Mysuru to examine the inscriptions," he said.

The experts took the estampage of the inscription on Monday.

Inscription expert Veera Manikantan said a report on the inscriptions will be published in the Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy. The inscriptions can be preserved either in Fisheries College or in a museum by the urban local body, he said.