COIMBATORE: Construction workers have stumbled upon a Sati stone, which is believed to be at least 300 years old, while digging a trench to lay electric cable on old market street in Tirupur city recently.
The stone was found barely a metre beneath the ground. Shortly after the stone was found, the public cleaned it, decorated it with neem leaves and applied turmeric on it.
When alerted, a team from Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research centre in the city turned up to study the stone, which is 75cm high and 45cm wide. S Ravikumar, director of the centre, said, “The stone depicts the images of a man and woman. The man is holding a gun in his left hand and sword in the right hand. The woman’s right hand is raised and is holding a mirror, while holding the man’s hand with her left hand. Clad in a neat dress, the woman has ornaments and pinned flowers to her hair.”
The man, Ravikumar said, was a soldier who had died fighting for a kingdom or community, or while safeguarding or rescuing cattle, and was considered a hero. “The woman’s ornaments, flowers and the mirror indicate nothing but she was the hero’s wife and was ready to commit Sati.”
Sati was the practice of women immolating themselves their husbands pyres. Such women were venerated in earlier times.Sati was declared illegal and the practice was completely banned in British India in 1829.
Referring to the gun in the man’s hand, Ravikumar said the guns became freely available a century after the arrival of the Portugues. “So, the Sati stone is expected to be at least 300 years old. No scripts were inscribed on the stone, which was handed over to the revenue department.”
T Satyamurthy, retired ASI superintending archaeologist, confirmed it was a Sati stone. “It should be 250 years to 300 years old and belonging to the Nayaka period when Sati was very prevalent in the region.”