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Tezpur researcher deciphers Tibetan inscription

By The Assam Tribune

GUWAHATI, Nov 19 � A rock inscription of Tibetan characters discovered inside the Maratha Regiment camp at Tamulpur towards the north of Rangiya in lower Assam on September 15, 2009 was deciphered by Dr Satish Chandra Bhattacharyya, a Tezpur-based researcher, recently, a press release said. The inscription is an invocation to Lord Buddha which is a very common eulogy of the Lord in Tibet.

Om Mani Padme Hum, a common mantra of Tibetan Buddhism, has been carved eight times on the body of the stone slab measuring 3�2�. The epigraph, like a few others of the kind found at Tezpur and its adjoining areas, is undated. The system of dating an edict by examining the style of palaeography cannot be applied in the present case as the Tibetan script developed from the northern variety of the great Brahmi script around the 7th century has not undergone any change since 900 AD owing mainly to extreme conservatism, the release pointed out. It seems that the epigraph does not bear any importance from the historical point of view while with regard to epigraphical aspects, it is a subject for further study and research.

In deciphering the Tibetan script, Dr Bhattacharyya was assisted by Tashi Wangdu, an inhabitant of the Hill Top area of Bomdila in Arunachal Pradesh. BB Devachoudhury, the then SDO (Civil) of Rangiya, furnished him with information on Tamulpur, the release added.

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