CHENNAI: A video claiming that Tamil inscriptions in the Thanjavur Brihadeeswara temple are being replaced with Hindi inscriptions, has gone viral in social media. However, experts say claims are baseless. The Devanagari script inscriptions shown in the video are not Hindi, but Marathi. They were recorded around 400 years ago when the region was ruled by a Maratha dynasty.
“It is sad that some unknown person rewrites history according to his own tunes without knowing what actually happened. The present generation will be the victims of the fake news and the consequences which come with it,” said Dr S Rajavelu, Head of Marine Archeology Department, Tamil University of Thanjavur, and an epigraphist.
The video shows some of the inscriptions on the temple written in Devanagari script. The voice-over claims that these were ‘shocking scenes’ and that these ‘Hindi’ words are newly inscribed on the stones along with the original Tamil Brahmi scripts. The video then shows an iron gated locked room and the voice-over claims that in that room, the “work to remove Tamil inscriptions and replace them with Hindi stone slabs, is underway.” A message accompanying the video declares that, “The government is erasing the Tamils’ history.”
Experts say all the content and claims in the video are totally fabricated and elaborated on the history of the delta region to put the correct facts on record. As history goes, Thanjavur was not just ruled only by Tamil-speaking kings. The region was ruled by various dynasties from Cholas to Pandyas, Nayakas and Marathas. The wall shown is one of the lengthiest inscriptions in the country, speaking about the history of the Maratha Bhonsle dynasty. “The Marathas started the Bhonsle dynasty at Thanjavur in 1676 with Ekoji I as its first ruler. They had contributed a lot to the development of the city from agriculture to building shrines inside the temple. Sarfoji II who ruled from 1798 to 1832, was considered the greatest ruler of the dynasty,” said Rajavelu.
“These inscriptions on the Southern and Western wall of the ‘prajara’ area, were built by the commander-in-chief of the Cholas, Krishnan Raman, with the help of Sri Lankan soldiers. During the continuous occupation on Thanjavur soil, the succeeding dynasties added some parts of the temple and the Marathas renovated it to the present look,” said Rajavelu.
He added that Saraboji, the ruler of Thanjavur Marathas, had renovated the temple ‘kalasam’ over 216 feet and had inscribed the Devanagari inscriptions on the top of it.