A group of archaeological enthusiasts recently deciphered an inscription near a hero stone, which was worshipped by the residents of a village near Kundadam in Tiruppur district, revealing that the stone was being worshipped at least since 17th Century.
The members of Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre - S. Ravikumar, K. Ponnusamy and C.M. Rameshkumar – located the hero stone at Periyamolarapatti, near Kundadam.
Mr. Ravikumar, the centre director, said the team first visited the hero stone on July 15. The stone, which was around 95 cm high and 195 cm wide, features two men and a woman in between them. The hero on the left side is seen attacking a boar with a spear and carrying a bow on his left shoulder, while the hero on the right side of the stone is seen attacking a tiger with a spear.
The woman in the middle is seen with a raised right hand with a flower and the hero stone also has two triangular cavities on either side, presumably to place earthen lamps for worship, Mr. Ravikumar said. “The locals have been worshipping this hero stone as ‘Vettaikaransami’,” he added.
One of the structures supporting the hero stone had Tamil inscriptions on it, which the team managed to decipher on August 8. The inscription read that a woman named Andiammal and her children erected the four stone structures and worshipped the hero stone. As per the inscription, the village was earlier called as ‘Molarapatti’ and mentions the name of Gurusamy, who was ruling the village when the inscription was prepared on the 18th day of the Tamil month Aadi during the Tamil year of Sukla, according to Mr. Ravikumar. Based on the style of the Tamil inscription, the team estimated that the hero stone might have been sculpted in the 17th Century, he said.