700-year-old stone tells saint Sundarar’s tale

Coimbatore: Archaeological enthusiasts have traced the historical importance of a stone with the emblem of Pandya dynasty that the villagers of Ganapathipalayam near Mukkonam in Tirupur district have been worshiping for the past decade.
The stone, which is 90cm high and 33cm wide, was found abandoned in a nearby farmland a decade ago, said S Ravikumar, director, Virarajendran archaeological and historical research centre. He said the stone was at least 700 years old.
“While the front portion of the stone depicts the image of saint and religious philosopher Sundarar with a half-moon above him, and a crocodile with a child in its mouth - commonly known as ‘muthalaivai sirppam’ - beneath him. It represents the incident that took place in the Avinashi Siva Temple. After hearing that a crocodile had swollen a child, the saint had rushed to the temple, sung hymns of Thevaram and rescued the child. The incident was recorded in many sculptures at Siva temples across the state,” he said.
The backside of the stone has auspicious symbols like trishul and lamp. The other two sides have the emblem of Pandya dynasty and a Tamil inscription that reads “the land donated to Avinashi Siva Temple should be protected and anyone misusing the donated land shall amount to a sin for seven generations”.
Explaining that it was not known whether the land from where the stone was found was donated to the temple or it speaks about some other land, Ravikuma said Ganapathipalayam village was mentioned as Perur Karuva Nallur in the inscription. “The Kongu region was ruled by Kongu Pandiyas - Veerapandian and Sundarapandian - from 1265 to 1312. Also, the script inscribed in the stone was used during the 13th Century and the early 14th Century. Based on these two factors, we believe that the stone is at least 700 years old.”
Agreeing that the stone should be 700 years old, Ramachandran, epigraphist, Rural Education and Conservation of Heritage Foundation said, “The inscription has mention about Perungkarunai Nallur and Avinashi Aludayar. The script used is same as in the 14th Century.”
The villages had also found another stone sculpture that is 130cm high and 30cm wide. It depicts woman with ornaments and anklet (silambam) in a worshipping posture. While lotus is found on her both sides, below her a cow and two fishes with a lotus in between them could be seen. The stone seems to have sculpted to honour the woman, Ravikumar said.