TIRUPUR: A team of Archaeological enthusiasts from Tirupur discovered a 10th-century Grantha Inscription stone in Munnur -- 12km West from Karur in the district.
The exploration was done by a team that included Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre from Tirupur, which was headed by S Ravikumar and the team members K Ponnusamy, R Kumaravel and S Sadhasivam.
Speaking to TNIE, Team Director S Ravikumar said that by the end of September, they had received a phone call from Chellamuthu (65), a farmer from Munnur, claiming that he has found a hero stone with inscriptions from his farmland.
"Since we had found hero stones in Karur, we visited the site to check them on it. However, it was not a hero stone, but a Grantha inscription stone," Ravikumar added.
More about the stone
With six lines of Grantha Script, the stone was 110 cm height and 43 cm in width. Grantha script introduced in the 8th century A.D. was used by the Pallava King Rajasimhan to make pictorial representations of peacocks, swan, snake, creepers and like. Apart from this, at the bottom of the stone, there were symbols like Trishul, Nandi (Bull), corn and pond, he added.
Karur's connection with Grantha script
Explaining the importance of Grantha script in Karur, Team Director S Ravikumar said that the city is one of the most important ancient cities in Tamil Nadu. It is located at a strategically important trade route, running from the Gangetic plain in North India to Kanniyakumari (The Present-day NH-7). This route is called as Dhakshinapatnam Sanskrit classic 'Arathsastra'. It is located in another important trade route of the Sangam Era called 'Kongapperuvalzhi' which runs from the Western Port City of Muzuri and reaches Poombhukar in the East Coast.
Adding that Karur served as a meeting point for the two important trade routes of the Sangam Era, he said that this was the reason why the trade activities were carried out from here during the Chera Kings of Sangam Age. They made Karur as their capital city and for the past 2,300 years, Karur has been a major historical and trade link with North India.
It should be noted that earlier two hero stones dating back to the 8th and 9th century A.D. were discovered by the Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre in Karur last year.