TIRUPATTUR: A 19th-century stone mortar used to extract seed oil was discovered on a private agricultural field in Athiyur last week. A few members of Heritage Conservation Centre -- a trust in Tirupattur -- made the discovery during a field study, based on the information passed on to them by social activists Dayanidhi and Vimal.
The flat-bed mortar measures 4.5x3.5 feet with a one-foot-deep indentation in the centre. Sacred Heart College professor of Tamil Dr A Prabhu, who made the discovery along with social activists Radhakrishnan and Ramkumar, told TNIE that the mortar could be as old as 196 years, a conclusion they arrived at after examining the inscription and the style of alphabets.
Typically in those days, Dr Prabhu said, rulers or village leaders donated such manual grinding devices to temples or villages for the purpose of lightning as there was no electricity at that time. Groundnut, sesame and castor seeds were ground using these mortars to extract oil for cooking and lighting lamps. "Since the inscription on the mortar does not have any Saiva or Vaishnava symbols, we believe it may have been donated to a village for public use or to a small temple.
Local leaders and landlords usually engraved the donors' names on the mortar," he said. The inscriptions on this mortar mention the words "Somasundara Mudaliar" and "Sarvathari". Thus, it is believed that Somasundara Mudaliar had made the donation during the Sarvathari year.
Dr Prabhu, who has been involved in similar excavations over several years, said, "We have previously unearthed such materials from hilly areas, including Yelagiri, Jawadhu hills and Pudurnadu. This is the first time we have found such an item at a non-hilly area, which is an important aspect of Tirupattur district's history."
Presently, the mortar is cleaned and kept at the exact location from where it was discovered. The Tirupattur trust has spread awareness about the mortar to the locals and has urged them to protect it.
The Heritage Conservation Centre, established in 2023, has been conducting weekly field visits, aiming to discover, document, and preserve the heritage of the district.