This template may be used in Wiktionary entry pages to quote Old Tamil passages from Mahadevan's comprehensive collection.
The template takes the following parameters:
|1=
or |page=
– the number of the picture quoted from.|2=
or |passage=
– a passage to be quoted from the work.|3=
or |transliteration=
– a transliteration of the passage into the Latin alphabet.|4=
or |translation=
– a translation of the passage into English|brackets=
– use |brackets=on
to surround a quotation with brackets. This indicates that the quotation either contains a mere mention of a term (for example, "some people find the word manoeuvre hard to spell") rather than an actual use of it (for example, "we need to manoeuvre carefully to avoid causing upset"), or does not provide an actual instance of a term but provides information about related terms.|year=
or |p1=
– The date of the inscription. If omitted, the date range of the totality of the inscriptions will be used instead.|name=
or |p2=
– An identifier of the inscription. If omitted, an anodyne description of the totality is displayed instead.{{RQ:oty:Mahadevan|page=Pl. 1|passage=𑀓𑀸𑀡𑀺𑀬𑀦𑀸𑀦𑀢𑀸𑀅𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺𑀬𑀈𑀯𑀅𑀷𑀓𑁂𑀥𑀫𑀫𑀸𑀫𑀈𑀢𑀢𑀸𑀅𑀦𑁂𑀝𑀼𑀜𑀘𑀸𑁵𑀺𑀬𑀸𑀷𑀧𑀸𑀡𑀸𑀅𑀷𑀓𑀸𑀝𑀸𑀮𑀅𑀷𑀯𑀸𑁵𑀼𑀢𑀢𑀺𑀬'''𑀓𑁄𑀝𑀝𑀽𑀧𑀺𑀢𑀢𑀸𑀅'''𑀧𑀸𑁵𑀺𑀈𑀬|translation=The Vulcans '''blasted''' a hole in the rock.|transliteration=}}
; or{{RQ:oty:Mahadevan|Pl. 1|𑀓𑀸𑀡𑀺𑀬𑀦𑀸𑀦𑀢𑀸𑀅𑀲𑀺𑀭𑀺𑀬𑀈𑀯𑀅𑀷𑀓𑁂𑀥𑀫𑀫𑀸𑀫𑀈𑀢𑀢𑀸𑀅𑀦𑁂𑀝𑀼𑀜𑀘𑀸𑁵𑀺𑀬𑀸𑀷𑀧𑀸𑀡𑀸𑀅𑀷𑀓𑀸𑀝𑀸𑀮𑀅𑀷𑀯𑀸𑁵𑀼𑀢𑀢𑀺𑀬'''𑀓𑁄𑀝𑀝𑀽𑀧𑀺𑀢𑀢𑀸𑀅'''𑀧𑀸𑁵𑀺𑀈𑀬|(7) The Vulcans '''blasted''' a hole in the rock.|transliteration=}}
Note that one cannot use the translations from the book! The author is dead and can no longer grant permission. The transliteration is omitted from these examples. As a consequence, automatic transliteration is applied. This currently assumes TB III, the only unambiguous Tamil Brahmi writing system.
The plates for the inscriptions, Pl. 1 to Pl. 96, are contained in Part Three of Volume 1, in the section entitled Corpus of Tamil-Brāhmī Inscriptions.
The pictures of pottery with Old Tamil writing, AI Fig. 1 to AI Fig. 25, are in Annexure A of Part One, as are the coins, AII Fig. 1 to AII Fig. 11, the seals in AIII Fig. 1 to AIII Fig. 3 and the rings in AIV Fig. 1 to AIV Fig. 9.
Annexure B similarly contains objects written on in Prakrit, and Annexure C similarly contains objects written on in Sinhala Prakrit.