Centuries-old stone inscribed with Grantha script discovered

Tirupur: A team of archaeological enthusiasts discovered a centuries-old stone inscribed with Grantha script along Tirupur-Karur district border.
The stone was found on a farmland owned by Chellamuthu of Munnur in Karur district by a team from the Veerarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre.
According to team members, senior epigraphist Y Subbarayalu deciphered the inscription and told the centre that it was mantra written in Grantha script, which was created during the Pallava dynasty to write Sanskrit.
“He told us that mantra would be inscribed in hidden form so that the common people could not learn it. It was followed in this stone also. Out of the six lines on the stone, only five lines could be read,” said S Ravikumar, one of the members of the team.
The stone is 110cm high and 43cm wide. Symbols including tirusulam (trident), nandi (bull), sangu (corn) and pond could be seen under the six lines.
“Karur was believed to be meeting point of two ancient trade routes — Dhakshinapatnam, which connected north India and Kanyakumari, and Konguppervazhi, which connected Muzuri in the west coast with Poombhukar in the east coast,” said Ravikumar.
“So, we find various vital historical structures including herostones and inscriptions in this region. In Munnur village, a few other structures were recorded by the state archaeological department. With the evolution of Grantha script, Subbarayalu evaluated that the stone could be around 1,100 years old,” he added.
The other members of the team include K Ponnusamy, R Kumaravel and S Sadhasivam.