THOOTHUKUDI: Two decades-old stone inscriptions were uncovered near the Tiruchendur Murugan temple on Sunday, as water along the beach receded a few days ago. According to the professors of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU), the inscriptions were written in latest Tamil scripts, and might have been installed around 50 years back, to notify the presence of Theertha Kinaru (holy wells).
Recently, the seawater along the Tiruchendur beach receded due to the formation of a cyclone, eventually exposing the underlying algae-covered rocks between Ayya temple and Nalikinaru. Devotees, who were taking a holy dip in the water on Sunday, came across the 4-feet-tall stone containing the inscriptions.
Subsequently, Professor Dr S Sudhakar, HOD, Bio-technology and Archaeology (MSU), and Mathivanan, Assistant Professor, Archaeology, cleaned the stone, and carried out a field visit, during which they uncovered another 4-feet-tall stone inscription around 100 feet away.
Speaking to TNIE, Mathivanan said that one of the inscriptions mentioned 15 lines, beginning with "Matha Theertham" detailing that taking part in the theertham will lead the participants to heaven. The second stone was engraved with 17 lines and also mentioned "Pitha Theertham", he said.
Further, Professor Sudhakar told TNIE that the stones were erected beside two wells that were used by the devotees for drinking and water purposes. There were 24 Theertha Kinaru along the beach between the Valli caves and Santhosha Mandapam. Most of the wells were closed, perhaps due to high waves or other reasons, and only two — Nalikinaru Theertham and Selva Theertham — exist now, Sudhakar recalled.
Meanwhile, an activist pointed out that as the Tiruchendur Murugan temple administration failed to take efforts to retrieve the stone inscriptions, one of them got damaged on Tuesday. Also, when the sea returned to normalcy, the stone inscriptions got submerged in the water again.