Youths save 17th-century stone inscription from coming under bulldozer

BENGALURU: A group of youngsters has saved a 17th-century stone inscription and a hero stone from being bulldozed for a road-widening project in Hebbal.

The youngsters’ timely action not only forced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to stop the work, but also drew the state archaeology department’s attention to provide the inscription and hero stone adequate protection.

It all started last week when Dilip Kshatriya, 25, an employee with a piston manufacturing firm, noticed a hero stone and stone inscription on the roadside near Maramma Temple, Hebbal, was about to be buried in a heap of gravel. “As a Hebbal resident for more than a decade, I have been seeing these stones. Though I didn’t know the historical importance of these installations, I knew people used to worship them during Sankranti festivities. I immediately alerted the Revival Heritage Hub (RHH), an NGO,” he added.

Rajeeva Nrupathunga, founder of RHH, sent his team members Devaraj S, a student of Surana College and Harihara Sudan O, a teacher at Carmel Jyothi School, to the spot. The duo cleared the gravel and made a video of the danger the relics faced. “We studied the inscription and found that it belonged to 1689 AD. Experts told us that further analysis could throw more light on the construction of Hebbal Lake. In the meantime, our video elicited a good response on social media and many heritage enthusiasts demanded action to save the inscription and hero stone,” said Devaraj.

‘Installations not in great shape’

Rajeeva said they brought the issue to BBMP’s notice, following which a civic official did a spot check and said the installations weren’t in great shape. “We then approached the state archaeology department and told them the stones could be relocated to a government library premises or temple nearby as they’d be prone to damage on the roadside,” he added.

Swaminathan Natarajan, a heritage enthusiast, facilitated the discussions with the department of public libraries.