Palur Copper Plates also known as Palayur Chempu Pattayam or Palayur Cheppēd is a set of four copper plates that were discovered from the Palayur Church. These have inscriptions in old Malayalam and Tamil Vattezhuthu script, and gives accounts of several the monetary and land deals of the church. The four plates are dated from 1606 (Kumbham 781 Malayalam Era), 1677 (Chingam 852 M. E.), 1681 (Mithunam 856 M. E.) and 1743 (Meenam, 918 M. E.) respectively. These plates were discovered in the 1920s by Henri Hosten, a Belgian Jesuit priest. The 4th plate, dated 1743, was the first to be deciphered and was published in the Travancore Archaeological Series in 1921. Following this, the second plate (dated 1677) and the third plate (dated 1681) were also published in the Travancore Archaeological Series in 1927 by A. S. Ramanatha Ayyar.
