Tham Pet Thong Inscription Dan Nai

Name other

Thăm Pĕt T’ông K. 513

Script

Pallava

Date

12th Buddhist century

Language

Sanskrit

Face/Line

1 face, contains 1 line of writing

Material

stone

Form

wall of the cave

Size

5 mm. depth (from wall of cave)

Found at

Tham Pet Thong, Pakham Locality, Pakham District, Buri Ram Province

Exhibited

Tham Pet Thong, Pakham Locality, Pakham District, Buri Ram Province

Description

This inscription had not been finished, resulting in somewhat incomplete information. All that is known about it is that it mentioned a father and a mother. However, when comparing the existing inscription to those found on two steles discovered in Cambodia, namely the Čharûoy Ampĭl stele (K. 116) and the Thma Krê stele (K. 122), it transpires that they all possibly contain the same content. The wording on these two steles can be used to provide some explanation for that found at Pet Thong Cave, in that the inside of Tham Pet Thong inscription may possibly have been made by royal command of prince Citrasen of Śreṣṭhapura or the ‘Chenla kingdom’ as it is commonly known today. At that time, the prince had not yet ascended to the throne. He had asked for royal permission from his father and mother to respectfully build a sacred Lingam, or phallic sculpture, giving us further evidence that prince Citrasen observed the Śivaism branch of Brahmanism.

Reference

Edited by : The Inscriptions in Thailand Database Project Staffs (2552 B.E.), SAC, from :
1) M. L. Finot, “Notes d’Épigraphie : IV Inscription de Thma Krê (Cambodge),” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Éxtrême-Orient III (1903) : 212-213.
2) Erik Seidenfaden, “Complément à l’inventaire descriptif des monuments du Cambodge pour les quatre province du Siam oriental,” Bulletin de l’École Française d’Éxtrême-Orient XXII (1922) : 92.
3) R. C. Majumdar, “No. 14 Thma Kre inscription of Citrasena,” in Inscriptions of Kambuja (Calcutta : The Asiatic Society, 1953) : 19-20, 626-627.
4) George Cœdès, “Stèle de Črûoy Ampĭl (K. 116 = Corpus, LXII),” in Inscriptions du Combodge vol. II (Hanoi : Imprimerie d'extrême-orient, 1942), 160-161.
5) George Cœdès, “Liste générale des inscriptions du Cambodge: K. 116,” in Inscriptions du Cambodge vol. VIII (Hanoi : Imprimerie d'Extrême-Orient, 1966), 94-95.
6) Cha-em Kaeokhlai, “Tham Pet Thong Inscription (inside)n,” in The Inscriptions in Thailand volume 1 : Pallava and Post-Pallava Script, 12th-14th Buddhist century (Bangkok : The National Library of Thailand, NLT, 2529), 147-150 (in Thai).