VILLUPPURAM: The villagers of Athanur discovered two stones with images from the Chola period at an agricultural field on Monday. Back in 9-10 century CE, Athanur had a temple named Thiripurandhaga Eswar temple. Over the years, the Shiva temple was destroyed. Volunteers from Villupuram, including writer Senguttuvan, A Krishnamoorthy and A Seenu, explained about the stones and their notable history.
Senguttuvan told Express, “During the Chola reign, landlords who gave their land to temples marked the boundaries with huge stones carved with Saivite or Vasihnavite symbols. If the land was given to a Shiva temple, the stones would have the symbol of a trident and lamps. If the land was given to Vishnu temple, the stones would have the symbol of three vertical lines which Vaishnavites applied on their forehead. This stone, generally known as Sulakkal (trident stone), was supposedly given by a landlord to a Shiva temple.”
The markings on the stone also conveyed that the government decree of granting tax-exempted land to temple was passed by a merchant council or panchayat board. “The stones may as well belong to the Thiripurandhaga Eswar temple,” Senguttuvan said.
A Seenu told Express, “The Villupuram - Tiruvannamalai road has plenty of stone sculptures of Iyanar with Poorni Pokkalai which people worship. In the centre of the other stone excavated stands a man holding a person’s head in one of his hands and a bow and a shield in the other. Two women stand beside him. On the back of the stone is the image of a warrior carved on it. It might belong to the Nayakkar period or a little earlier.”
Villagers said the stones had been lying in the fields for a long time, but they were afraid to move or dig them out as they had god’s images on them.