NAGAPATTINAM: A team of archaeology students along with a researcher have found a Buddha statue believed to belong to the 13th-century later Chola period at Umbalacheri village in Thalainayar block of Vedaranyam taluk.
According to sources, the field study was held throughout April by students Themmavur Nandan and Nalangilli, along with researcher Arul Muthukumaran, following information provided by Vedaranyam History Group secretary Birla Thangadurai.
The weathered stone statue was found on a small mound on the west side of Pidari temple along Umbalacheri panchayat road.
Sources said the statue, carved from brown-hued stone, depicts Buddha in a meditative posture, with elongated ears and a halo.
The statute is 46 cm tall and 34 cm wide. The head part alone is 11.5 cm in length and 9 cm in width.
Researchers said traces of the Chola-style “Usnisha” or cranial protuberance, a hump and top-knot like symbolic feature on the head in Buddha sculptures associated with Buddhist iconography, can be identified despite heavy erosion, and folds of the robe are visible near the thigh.
Researchers said villagers used to worship the statue, believing it could bring rain and also prevent destructive rainfall.
Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department official K Vasanthakumar inspected the spot and said Nagapattinam region has several Buddhist traces and Buddhist viharas had existed in Poompuhar and Nagapattinam.
Keelathanjai Manram founder and Deputy Collector of Land Administration in Ezhilagam, Chennai, K Ramachandran also visited the spot during the study.