VIRUDHUNAGAR: Efforts are on to restore and patch up 800-year-old stone walls and pillars of the Paravai Annam Kaathar Kovil near Rajapalayam New Bus Stand. Over 25 fragments of inscriptions were observed on the stones, but the complete message could not be ascertained since the portions were in disrepair.
Shanthalingam, an archaeologist from the Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research, said the Pandya Kings built the temple built eight centuries ago. "Just the sanctum sanctorum was renovated once, and the whole structure had been in ruins. Last week, the temple stones and pillars were dug up from the ground using earthmovers. The remnants, which point to the existence of a larger temple at the site, were sorted out by temple management committee chairman Vellathurai and other members," he added.
The unearthed fragments are being unified now to make full sense of the inscriptions. According to Kandhasamy, assistant professor from the history department at Rajapalayam Raju's College, the inscriptions reveal that the area where the ancient temple is located used to be known as Venmpaikudi Naatu Karunkulamana Sathavasaganallur. Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research and the postgraduate and history research centre at Raju's College were involved in the fieldwork at the site.