Based on the style, the stone might belong to 9th century AD, says M. Gandhi
A retired curator of the Government Museum, Vellore stumbled upon a treasure trove of antiquities from Yelagiri gramam near Tirupattur. It included two hero stones and a merchant guild stone.
M. Gandhi, the former curator along with R. Mani, retired conservation assistant from the Archaeological Survey of India visited the village earlier last month (August). The village is located on the foothills of Yelagiri.
“S. Chinnathambi, retired superintending engineer, Public Works Department asked me to study the antiquities in his village. We studied the temples and archaeological objects for three days. We found two hero stones, one merchant guild stone, a nagini stone and a damaged Tamil inscription belonging to Vijayanagar King Devaraya,” he said.
In the three-and-a-half-foot tall hero stone, a warrior is seen wielding a bow and a dagger. Two of his enemies, whom he had attacked, are seen fallen around him. ‘Linga,’ ‘nandi,’ crescent moon, sun have been depicted on the top of the hero stone.
On the basis of the style, Mr. Gandhi said this hero stone might belong to the 9th century AD.
A stone featuring slaying of a tiger has been erected on the edge of an irrigation well in the village. In this stone, a warrior holds a bow in his right hand, while his left hand stabs on the head of a tiger that had attacked him. The animal is depicted as biting the hero’s left thigh, and warrior has been portrayed in full action of slaying the beast. Based on the style, the stone could belong to the 11th century AD, he said.
Alongside the tiger slaying stone is a merchant guild stone. On the face of the stone, Goddess Sridevi is depicted in a seated pose with her two hands holding lotus flowers. A swan, horse, bow and five types of musical instruments find place on the stone.
Apart from this, Mr. Gandhi and Mr. Mani also found an image of Tirthanakara housed in a small shed-like structure near an abandoned well. He noted that the villagers worshipped this sculpture.
At Chennarayaperumal Temple in the village, the inscription of Kulothunga Chola I was seen in the plinth, while another temple, Malayathamman Temple (Saptamatrika Shrine) has late Chola age - nearly 11th or 12th century - images of seven mothers, he added.
