TIRUPATTUR: An assistant professor from Sacred Heart College, Tirupattur and his team have discovered a 17th-century land grant inscription for Anganatheeswarar temple, on a private agricultural land in Somalapuram of the district.
Even though the inscription was uncovered 15 days back, it was only on Wednesday that they were able to determine the period.
Dr A. Prabu, the Tamil professor, said his team, which includes activists and history graduates, went on surface field research based on information provided by Radhakrishnan, a social activist.
The inscription, carved on a 5.5-foot-long and 3.5-foot-wide slab stone with 17 lines, is in Tamil Grantha script. However, the professor said the inscription is worn and the letters are faded due to years of exposure in the open air. He added that despite subjecting it to powder coating, many parts of it remained illegible, and hence the team was unable to understand the reign of which king the inscription was engraved. "Considering the arrangement of letters, the inscription is suspected to be from the 17th century," said the professor.
It says about the donation of 20 pits of land at "Somanapuram in Tirupetur Seemai" to Anganatheeswarar Temple in Madapalli, he said. It also mentions that those who preserve this gift will receive blessings.
The professor further said this inscription documents an era before 400 years and indicates the names Tirupattur and Somalapuram as Tirupetur and Somanapuram, respectively. "With the mention of 'Ail Nattu Tirupetur Seemai', we understand the place was one of the most important prefectural cities," Dr Prabu added.
The team is currently involved in digging out countless undocumented historical traces from various parts of the district, through field research. "In this regard, an MoU was recently signed with the Yakkai Foundation for digitising the inscriptions and preserving them for our future generation," shared the professor.
He further expressed worry about finding such significant documents in such an unguarded environment. "We have started an organisation called Tirupattur District Heritage Conservation Centre, to find and document such historical traces. Now, the district administration and the archaeology department should recover, protect, and document the inscription."