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Epigraphist Iravatham Mahadevan passes away

Condoling his death, CM Palaniswami said Mahadevan was an honest' IAS officer, and recalled him being honoured with the Padma Shri in 2009.

Chennai: Well-known epigraphist and Padma Shri recipient Iravatham Mahadevan died here Monday following brief illness. He was 88 and is survived by a son.

A scholar in the Indus valley and Tamil brahmi scripts, Mahavevan was the editor of Tamil daily ‘Dinamani’ during 1987-9. His death was mourned by Chief Minister K Palaniswami and DMK president MK Stalin, among others.

A former IAS officer, Mahadevan had taken voluntary retirement from government service in 1980 to pursue his interest in research, particularly in epigraphy. He was awarded the Padma Shri in April 2009 for his work in epigraphy. His magnum opus on the corpus of Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions established the antiquity of the Tamil script.

Condoling his death, CM Palaniswami said Mahadevan was an ‘honest’ IAS officer, and recalled him being honoured with the Padma Shri in 2009.

He had carved a name for himself in the field of archaeology, the chief minister said in a statement. "He was an affable person and his death is a great loss to the media and archaeology fields," Palaniswami added.

DMK chief Stalin, who is also the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly, also condoled Mahadevan’s death. Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam leader TTV Dhinakaran, Dravida Kazhagam leader K Veeramani and Tamilnadu Progressive Writers and Artists Association also mourned the death.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle. )
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