THANJAVUR: Hero stones over 2,300 years old and inscribed with
the Tamil Brahmi script have been discovered, for the first time,
at Puliyamkombai in Andipatti taluk of Theni district.
V.P.Yatheeskumar
and S.Selvakumar of the Department of Epigraphy and Archaeology
of Tamil University, Thanjavur, found the stones on March 23 and
25 on the banks of the Vaigai, about 19 km south of Vattalakundu.
They are functioning under the department head K.Rajan.
"These
are the oldest among the hero stones in India so far," Vice-Chancellor
C.Subramaniam told reporters here on Tuesday. "... They will
pose new challenges to archaeologists of Tamil Nadu."
Position
changed
The three-foot high stones seem to be a part of urn burials found
in large numbers in the area. In recent years, they were removed
from their original position when the ground was levelled for
cultivation. The area is known as Veppamarattukadu.
Dr.Rajan
said the research was part of a project on the archaeology of
the Vaigai valley, funded by the University Grants Commission
and a project on the historical atlas of South India, funded by
the Ford Foundation.
The
first hero stone has three lines that read, "Kal pedu tiyan
antavan kudal ur akol," which means it has been put up in
memory of Tiyan Antavan of pedu village, who died in a cattle
raid at Kudalur. The second stone is partly broken. The inscription
says it is in memory of Atan. The full name of the village and
the man could not be ascertained as the stone has been damaged.
The inscription on the third stone reveals that it is in memory
of Patavan Avvan of Velur.
The
last two inscriptions can be dated to the third century BC.
The
first inscription seems to be older than the other two.
According
to Iravatham Mahadevan, an expert in the Tamil Brahmi script,
the writings and orthography are similar to the cave inscriptions
of Mangulam. This is the earliest inscription found so far in
Tamil Nadu.
