It is a 5th-century Sanskrit inscription on the riverbed of Ciaruteun River near Bogor, West Java, Indonesia. The inscription parallels the king to Hindu god Vishnu. The inscription provides a floruit to the presence of Hinduism in southeast Asia. The inscription is interesting as it combines two scripts, the Sankha Lipi (shell characters) and Brahmi Lipi in Sanskrit attributed to King Pūrṇavarman, a pattern seen in Udayagiri Caves in Madhya Pradesh, India. The inscription also includes a pada lakshana (feet stamps).

This Prasasti Ciaruteun is one of three known Sankha lipi inscriptions in West Java that have survived and identified so far, in contrast to thousands of historic Brahmi and Kawi script inscriptions that are knownn in Indonesia. Sankha lipi inscriptions are also found in Borneo and Thailand (Si Thep site). In India, over 600 Sankha lipi inscriptions have been identified from Kashmir to Karnataka, Gujarat to Bengal, but in Southeast Asia they are relatively rare compared to tens of thousands of historic Brahmi, Siddhamatrika, Khmer and other scripts. The Sankha script is yet to be deciphered, as of 2025. Sankha lipi is likely a rarity because it has not been deciphered, and easy to confuse as mere abstract decoration. It is one of 64 lipis identified in ancient Hindu, Buddhist and Jaina texts. (Further Reading: Richard Salomon (1980), Shell Inscriptions; Also Salomon's 2023 paper on Sankhalipi inscription from Si Thep Thailand)

These are photographs of ancient and pre-12th century inscriptions (2D Art). These were made from a personal copy of the following book. Note that PD-Art guidelines apply, since the original creator of this artwork lived many centuries ago. Any rights I have are herewith donated with Wikimedia Creative Commons 4.0 license.