3D DIGITAL SCANNING OF EPIGRAPHS: IN THE CONTEXT OF BENGALURU'S INSCRIPTIONS

President Hon. Secretary Prof. K. Narahari Sri V. Nagaraj The Society promotes the study of Archaeology, Anthropology, Art, Architecture, Ethnology, Folklore, History, Mythology, Religion and other allied subjects, more particularly those that relate to Karnataka and stimulates research in the above subjects. The Activities of the Society : (a) To publish The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society containing original research articles on subjects connected with the objectives of the Society, (b) To arrange for Special and Endowment Lectures on Cultural Nationalism and International aspects by eminent scholars, and (c) To maintain a Library and a Free Reading Room. Article contributions are accepted from scholars to the Journal on subjects connected with the objectives of the Society. They should be type-written on one side of the paper only. A softcopy of the same may be emailed to : themythicsociety@gmail.com Price of Vol.111(1-4) onwards has been revised as below: Revised QJMS Subscription details: Period Type of copy 3 years 2 years 1 year 3 years 2 years 1 year Hard copy Hard copy Hard copy Soft copy Soft copy Soft copy Some back numbers of The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society are available for sale. Price (including shipping charges) Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. Rs. 2000/1600/800/1000/800/400/- Further details can be had from : Sri V. Nagaraj The Hon. Secretary, THE MYTHIC SOCIETY Daly Memorial Hall, Nrupatunga Road BENGALURU-560 001 (INDIA) July - September 2020 Vol. 111 No. 3 THE MYTHIC SOCIETY NRUPATUNGA ROAD, BENGALURU-560 001 (Founded in 1909) Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society Vol. 111 July to September, 2020 No. 13 MANAGING COMMITTEE (Elected on 31-12-2017) Hon. President : Prof. K. Narahari Vice-President : Dr. M. Kotresh Hon. Secretary : Sri V. Nagaraj Hon. Treasurer : Sri K.N. Hiriyannaiah Hon. Chief Editor : Dr. M.G. Nagaraj Members : Sri N. Thippeswamy Dr. Babu Krishna Murthy Sri M.R. Prasanna Kumar Sri Du. Gu. Lakshman Dr. K. Vasanthalakshmi Sri S. Sudarshan Dr. P.M. Giridhara Upadhyaya 1 3D DIGITAL SCANNING OF EPIGRAPHS: IN THE CONTEXT OF BENGALURU'S INSCRIPTIONS Udaya Kumar. P.L * Background Bengaluru / Bangalore's past can be traced to prehistoric times; very few modern urban metropolises in the world can claim to such incredible heritage. The city during various times has been governed by Ganga, Chola, Hoysala, Vijayanagara, Bijapur Sultanate, Maratha, Hyder Ali, Tipu Sultan, Wodeyar and British rulers. Every rulerhas left some mark on the city. Bengaluru is often mistakenly thought to be a ""new'' city without much history. It is perceived more as a modern, thriving-bustling global city. However, within Bengaluru city we have about 175 stone inscriptions from 750 CE to 1700 CE discovered and documented in books and journals such as the Epigraphia Carnatica, Itihasa Darshana, Itihasa Darpana, QJMS. Epigraphs (stone inscriptions are a type of epigraph) spanning thousands of years are our primary source for accurate in formation about the past. Such stone inscriptions have been intensely combed for, studied, deciphered, and documented in the past one hundred years or so by researchers, archaeologists and others. Aninscription discoverer-decipherer (called an Epigraphist) traditionally documents the inscription with a paper imprint (called anestampage) and a descriptive article in a history book-journal. However, once a stone inscription is documented, the stone itself is often ignored and soon forgotten as subsequent studies by researchers and historians tend to be mostly book based. In the state of Karnataka, it is estimated that about 30,000 stone inscriptions have been discovered and documented and * No.122, 20th "B' Main, 1st "R' Block, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru-560 010. Email: udayakumar.pl@gmail.com Mob: 9845204268 104 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society some 10,000 - 20,000 stone inscriptions are still to be discovered and documented. Fig 2, a map shows the precise distribution of Bengaluru's inscriptions against the backdrop of BBMP wards. Wards are coloured based on the mention of a place name within the ward on an inscription stone of some century (legend given in the bottom of the image). However, a thorough ground search for these 175 hoary Bengaluru's inscriptions tells us that only some 60-70 inscriptions are traceable today. These surviving inscriptions are indicated in fig 1 with a green coloured heart icon. Many inscriptions are victims to crass urbanisation and destroyed (fig 3)1 due to apathy and ignorance, mostly in the past 2-3 decades. These are indicated in fig 2 with a red skull icon. Each of these inscriptions was an original record of a significant event in the past at the installation site of the inscription. From studying these inscriptions, we learn Bengaluru and its localities have an incredible 1500 years of documented past! There seems to be no comparable global city in the world blessed with such written records of its past, yet only a handful of Bengalureans know about these and an even smaller number of people have seen these stone inscriptions! Traditionally inscriptions have been studied and information abstracted at a very high level in the form of political history narrations. However, all inscriptions also contain an extraordinary amount of local information related to the place of inscription. This is how we know, when a lake was built, about the people who lived in the place, their heroes, their religions, their languages, their problems... Figs 4 & 5 are word-clouds that show the antiquity of Bengaluru's localities and lakes3 as gleaned from inscription stones. In these word clouds, larger the font size, older the locality/lake. The year of first mention of the place-lake name in an inscription is also given in brackets. Ironically, many of these historic inscription stones have been destroyed and are not available for residents of those localities to see, cherish and celebrate! The only places where we learn about these lost inscriptions are in esoteric books such as the Epigraphia Carnatica. 3D Digital Scanning of Epigraphs: In the context of Bengaluru's Inscriptions The Problem With increased levels of education and prosperity in society and easyaccess to information, there is an increase in awareness and interest in history and heritage in people. As a result, there is a significant un-met, insatiable thirst in common people to learn about ""their'' history, ""their'' place, ""their'' people... as opposed to the much publicised accounts of distant lands, distant people, unknown languages... found in popular history books. As a result of this change in society, the understanding and appreciation for stone inscriptions in urban settings has leap frogged from an esoteric field of study by mostly experts in earlier years, to a hoary neighbourhood inscription stone being a revered and better understood object today. While earlier generations of people were superstitious and feared inscription stones, today's generation wishes to learn, understand, cherish, and celebrate inscriptions in their neighbourhood. While earlier generations were quite happy to pulverise hoary inscriptions into stone jelly to build their homes and buildings (fig 3 & 105 6),1&2 today's generation is keen to save them and reinstall them on pedestals and mantapas. In the city of Bengaluru, we have many recent examples in Allalasandra, Kodigehalli, Jakkur, Yelachenahalli, Sadaramangala... where endangered inscription stones have been reinstalled in better and safer surroundings The best and most well-known example being the construction of a beautiful crowdfunded Ganga style Hebbal-Kittayya mantapa to house a recently discovered 8th century herostone in Hebbal (Figs 7, 8, 9). Sadly, the 100+ inscriptions that have been destroyed/vandalised in Bengaluru are lost forever. We do not have estam pages or photosto help us visualise how those inscriptions may have looked. We have forever lost the opportunity to preserve them as heritage and showcase them to residents. Many stone inscriptions are now weathered due to continued and longexposure to the harsh sun and rain for centuries. Therefore, they are now less amenable to high quality ""documentation'' thru photographs or estampages. While photosestampagesare good for study- 106 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society research purposes, they are both limited in terms of their longevity and completeness of information contained in them. While tangiblysafeguardinga stone inscription in a secure place solves the problem of conservation to some extent, it is not a very fool proof conservation method, nor does it help very much with awareness creation. While the threat to stone inscriptions in rural Bengaluruisa little less compared to those within the city, explosive uninhibited growth in rural Bengaluru also means a large number of the 1200 odd inscriptions documented in the region are also in severe danger of being lost very soon. A Solution in High Resolution 3D Scanning An immediate and tactical solution to conservation is to materially secure an imperilled stone by reinstalling it on a pedestalor by providing protective cover around the inscription. In Bengaluru cityso far, some 15 such ""vulnerable'' inscriptions have been protected by reinstalling them on a pedestal at the same location or relocating them to a nearby park, ground, school, temple, or museum. While this is sufficient in the short term, there is no guarantee that the inscription stone is protected from vandalism or damage due to accidents or carelessness. Despite protection, physical damage can never be ruled out. It has also been observed that even with a good enclosureor other protection, for reasons that are not clear, flaking of stone inscriptions and weathering continues to degrade an inscription. Some possible causes could be increased air pollution, acidic rainwater etc. Recent technological enhancement senable us to go beyond physical securing of inscriptions. With modern methods we can also ""digitally conserve'' an inscription stone. A high resolution 3d digital model of an inscription can be developed by 3d digital scanning methods. Based on light (laser or other types of light), the conservation technique is noncontact and safe. Commercial handheld 3d digital scanners are based on the technique of projecting light from multiple angles and/or patterns onto an object 3D Digital Scanning of Epigraphs: In the context of Bengaluru's Inscriptions and capturing point reflections from the object in one or multiple cameras. These captured reflections are then used to compute the x,y,z coordinates of points on the object by triangulation algorithms. These points with 3d dimensional coordinates are then used to digitally reconstruct faces and volumes for the object. Amobilehand held scanner provides the added advantage of insitu scanning which is a key requirement for scanning stone inscriptions (fig 10). 12 Once developed, a 3d model is an accuratere presentation of the existing condition of the inscription and lasts forever without degradation. Benefits Conservation & Awareness Building A) In addition to conservation, a high-resolution 3d digital model helps ""democratise'' information in extraordinary ways. A ""micron'' accurate 3d digital model can be shared electronically and such a shared model can be studied by anyone anywhere in the world from the comfort of their homes and offices. It will no longer be necessary 107 for a researcher or anyone interested to visit the site of the inscription to take flour traces or estampages. B) A high quality 3d digital model also enables us to produce high quality replicas. Any material could be used for making a replica - wood, stone, metal, plastic are all possible material choices. While a stone inscription on a pedestal is a valuable and a venerated object, a good quality replica can also be valuable in many ways, may be to help generate funds to maintain the original object itself. Funds for constructing the HebbalKittayya mantapa (fig 7 & 8) in Ganga architectural style were similarly raised from sale of brass mementos of the original inscription HebbalKittayya hero stone. Brass mementos (fig-12) were mass produced from a 3d print of the 3d digital model. Hundreds of such brass mementos are now prized show pieces in homes and offices across the world (fig 12). We even have instances of these mementos being kept in puja rooms and bank lockers! Research A) Deciphering the text of an inscription using a 3d digital model 108 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society and leveraging sophisticated software rendering and lighting algorithms results in significant speed and accuracy improvements over the traditional paper based the deciphering process. The ability to view the 3d digital model of an inscription from any angle, to zoom & pan, change surface colour, change light colours and lighting directions, apply textures, apply digital filters... help bring out the ancient characters in amazing clarity (fig 13). Thus, scope for ambiguous readings is reduced and contentions resolved more easily. Even decipheringfairly worn out and effaced inscriptions is much easier and faster when working with 3d digital models. We have an excellent example in the case of the 750CE Hebbal-Kittayya inscription by Dr. P.V. deciphered 4 Krishnamurthy in 2019. He was able to identify the attackers mentioned in the inscription as from Ratavadi (Rashtrkutas) only after having access to a high-quality digital model of the stone inscription (fig 15). B) We have many instances of inscriptions that have been read incorrectly or partially due to human errors and-or because the inscription was worn out. A good quality digital 3d model helps resolve such issues with ease. C) Scholarly epigraphists are now a rarity and many inscriptions remain undeciphered due to non-availability of epigraphists to decipher them! A solution to this problem is in the new and evolving area of software applications to automatically decipher inscriptions. High quality 3d digital models area particularly useful asset for developing Machine Learning (ML) based software applications to automatically read inscriptions. D) Inscriptions are legal records accepted by government and civic bodies in administrative matters. In the years to come, with more jostling for space and the resultant increase in civil disputes, this usage of inscriptions in administrative matters is also bound to go up. A wellknown, recentexample of an inscription being considered in civil dispute adjudication case is the 12th century Vishnu Hari inscription5 by the Supreme Court of India in the 2019 Ayodhya case verdict. The 12th century Vishnu-Hari inscription 3D Digital Scanning of Epigraphs: In the context of Bengaluru's Inscriptions was evidence considered and discussed at length in the final judgement.7 Anexample of a Bengaluru stone inscription being submitted as evidence in an ongoing civil dispute is in the matter of Pattandur (located behind ITPL in Whitefield) lake encroachment. A 1043CE 8 inscription in Kadugodi is an original record of building of Pattandur Lake. This inscription has now been presented for consideration by the court as evidence to establish the antiquity of the lake. Sadly, this same Pattandur lake inscription currently sits lonely and threatened in a graveyard (fig 14). In the event of physical destruction of an inscription, high quality digital 3d models will be especially useful in such matters. Proposed Scanning Plan Bengaluru city is an explosively growing mega city. A city that attracts tens of thousands of global citizens and corporates from every corner of the world. As mentioned before, most residents of the city, whether native or migrant have little knowledge of its incredible millennium years history recorded in 109 stone inscriptions. As a result, the city has already lost much of its valuable heritage in inscriptions. Of the 175 hoary inscriptions in the city, over 100 have already been lost due to this apathy and ignorance. The unceasingmarch of rapid and chaotic urbanisation now threatensthe ~1200 inscriptions in all of Bengaluru district. Therefore, it is extremely essential to 3d digital scan and safeguard these at the earliest. Conscientious citizens have funded 3d scanning of some 25 inscriptions so far (fig 1).9 However, to scan the remaining~1150, institutional and corporate support is needed. Mythic Society apioneer in Indic studies has expressed interest to engage in this initiative. Similar interest has also been expressed by a few corporates and citizens. Our experience with 3d digital scanning of 30 inscriptions indicates that the average scanning and processing time for 3 inscription stones is around 4 days. Therefore, 3d digital scanning of all inscriptions in Bengaluru district is likely to be a 3-4 years project. Considering the threat of destruction to an inscription stone as the main criteria for prioritising scans, anoptimal 110 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society approach will be to first scan all inscriptions in dense urban and semi-urban locations on priority and scan the rest subsequently. Conclusion Current state-of-the-art technology allows us to digitally scan, capture and conserve in excellent three- dimensional detail stone inscriptions. Considering the rapid rate at which Bengaluru's incredible millennium year's inscription stones heritage is being lost, it is our fervent hope that all Bengaluru's inscriptions will be digitally scanned quickly and digitally conserved for posterity! Fig.1 Digital image of the Kaikondranahalli herostone & inscription9 Fig.2- Map showing distribution of stone inscriptions in Bengaluru 3D Digital Scanning of Epigraphs: In the context of Bengaluru's Inscriptions 111 Fig.3- Fragments of the 820CE1 Kannada inscription at Nagondanahalli, Whitefield Fig.4- Locality/ Zone names of Bengaluru in Inscriptions Fig.5- Lakes mentioned in Bengaluru Inscriptions 112 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society Fig.6- Fragments of 1401CE Tamil inscription at Kithagnur, Bangalore Fig.7- Ganga style HebbalKittayya mantapa housing the 4 750CE herostone 5-Oct-2020 Fig.8- Inauguration of the Hebbal-Kittayyamantapa on15-Jan-2020, Ugadi Day 2 3D Digital Scanning of Epigraphs: In the context of Bengaluru's Inscriptions Fig.9- Hebbal-Kittayyaherostone in a roadside ditch 2-Oct-2017 Fig.11 - The digital model to physical replica process 113 Fig.10- 3d digital scanning of the 750CE8 herostone with inscription at T.Dasarahalli using an Artec Spider scanner. Fig -12-Bengalureans who funded the HebbalKittayyamantapa proudly display beautiful brass replicas of the veeragallu. Fig-13- Digitally enhanced image from a 3d scan of a 10th century inscription11 in Jakkur, Bengaluru 114 The Quarterly Journal of The Mythic Society Fig.14- 1043CE Tamil inscription8 which is an original record of construction of Pattandur lake now sits lonely and endangered in a graveyard Fig.15. Digital image of the 750CE Hebbal-Kittayya herostone9 Foot Notes: 1. E.C. Vol-IX, Bn.42 (Nagondanahalli) 2. E.C. Vol-IX, Ht.118 (Kitagnur) 3. Bengaluru Jilla Parisarada Shasanokta Keregalu , P.V. Krishnamurthy, Itihasa Darshana 2006, p.117-121. 4. Ganga Sripurushana Hebbalada Aprakatita Veeeragallu Shasana, P.V. Krishnamurthy, Itihasa Darpana, Vol. 37-38, Apr-Sep 2018, p.177-182. 5. Proceedings of the Indian History Congress (64th session Mysore). Braj Basi Lal (2003) Indian History Congress. 64: p.348-361). 6. The Excavations at Ayodhya. In Robert Layton, ed: Peter G. Stone and Julian Thomas Destruction and Conservation of Cultural Property 7. SUPREME COURT OF INDIA, Civil Appeal Nos 10866-10867 of 2010, https:// main.sci.gov.in/supremecourt/2010/ 36350/36350_2010_1_1502_18205_ Judgement_09-Nov-2019.pdf 8. E.C. Vol- IX, Ht.142 (Patandur), a. WP PIL 24122/2018 - Pattandur Agrahara RWAF vs State - Case demanding that the State recover and rejuvenate the lake b. WP 26097/2018 - State vs Encroacher - Case filed against Encroacher for fraudulent documents submitted to claim a commons lake as a private land. 9. Bengaluru Poorva Taluku Kaikkondrahalli Aprakatita Nagattarana Shasana , Adappa Pasodi, Ithihasa Darshana, 2016, p.21-30. 10. E.C. Vol-IX, Bn.38,39, (Dasarahalli). 11. Bengalurina Jakkuru Hagu Naagavarada Aprakita Shasanaglu, K.R. Narasimhan, p.408-411, "Aksharameru: P.V. Krisnhamurthya Abhinandana Samputa', Ed: Sunkam Govardhan, 2020. ****