300-year-old unaligned stone carrying Vamana drawing found in Virudhunagar
After examining the stone, V Rajaguru, the president of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, explained, “During the reign of kings, the tax on cultivable land was removed, and it was donated to temples.
300-year-old unaligned stone with Vamana contour found near Tiruchuli
MADURAI: An ancient Vamana stone was discovered near Tiruchuli in the Virudhunagar district. This stone could be dated to 300 years ago, say experts.
After examining the stone, V Rajaguru, the president of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, explained, “During the reign of kings, the tax on cultivable land was removed, and it was donated to temples. They continued worshipping with the yield of the land and planted a trident stone on the lands of the Siva temple. As part of this, a Tiruvazhi stone was engraved with a Sangu (conch) and a chakra on the lands of the Vishnu temple.”
Rajaguru, along with Rajapandi, Assistant Professor, Department of History, SBK College, Aruppukottai, examined the unaligned Vamana stone found on the left side of the Narikudi-Tiruppuvanam Road at Undurumi Kidakkulam near Tiruchuli.
At Undurumi Kidakkulam, on a one-and-a-half-feet-high and one-foot-wide unaligned stone, the drawing of the Vamana Brahmin figure, the fifth incarnation of Lord Vishnu, holding an umbrella in his right hand and a kamandalam in his left hand, with the sun and the moon depicted as contours on its upper part, was found.
The Vamana stones found all over Tamil Nadu were mistakenly called the boundary stones of the land donated to the Vishnu temple. It is customary to plant Tiruvazhi stone on the lands of the Vishnu temple. On inscriptions at Gundur, Meerankulam, and Suthamalli in Tiruchy, Thoothukudi, and Ramanathapuram districts, it is said that lands were given to Brahmins. In the inscription of Vanathi Raya, who established an agrahara at Brahmanakurichi in the Sivaganga district, the Kamandalam and Tridandam were drawn as contours.
“With the symbols of the Vamana Brahmin figure, the Kamandalam, the sun, and the moon, the Vamana stone was said to be a symbolic stone planted on the lands donated to the Brahmins. It’s also confirmed by the Epigraphical Glossary published by Madurai Kamaraj University,” said Rajaguru.
There’s no practice of placing Vamana stone in the Brahmadeya lands granted during the Pandya and the Chola periods. This practice developed after the 16th century AD due to the encroachment of Brahmadeya lands by others. Most of these have been found on unaligned stones, with the figure of Vamana drawn as contours. It’s in relief sculpture at some places.
This Vamana stone might have been placed as a symbol when the Undurumi Kidakkulam area was donated to the Brahmins, he said.
