Some inscriptions, bricks and sculptures, all belonging to Chola period, were found near Palani while digging a trench to lay the foundation for a temple.
Residents of Ravimangalam village were involved in the preliminary work to construct a temple on the banks of a tank where a dilapidated Sivan temple stood. While digging trenches for the construction of the temple, the inscription-laden stone pillars, old bricks and some granite sculptures were found.
Talking to media about the artefacts, Narayanamoorthy, a epigraphist, Thilagavathy, Palaniyandavar Women’s College professor, Gomathi, research scholar, said that two inscriptions, originally parts of the now dilapidated temple, were found.
“These epigraphs belong to 11th Century AD and are inscriptions of the Vickrama Cholan, who ruled the area”, they added.
The inscriptions reveal that Vickrama Cholan visited the temple and offered a donation. In one of the inscriptions there was reference to the “Kolumam Highway”, which started in Madurai and ran through Palani and Kolumam to Calicut. Then it took the sea route which extended up to Persian coast. From there, it took the land route to Rome and a sea route to Greece.
“Through this highway, ancient Tamils had maintained trade links with foreign countries,” they pointed out. The bricks were over 1,000 years old and measured 23X15X4 cm.