Picottah stone pillar found in Srivilliputtur

MADURAI: An ancient stone pillar with an inscription believed to be nearly 750 years old and belonging to the period of later Pandyas was found at Pattakulam Sallipatti, a village in the Srivilliputtur block of Virudhunagar district.

V Rajaguru, president of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation, after inspecting the stone along with ‘Noorsahipuram’ Sivakumar on Tuesday, said the stone known as ‘Picottah’ was used as a lever to pump water from a well.

What was customary in those days was to dig wells and use such stones at times when rainwater was not available, and ponds dried up. Such wells were constructed by rulers and merchants in their areas.

Wells dug near the temple were called as ‘Thirumanjanam’ (holy water used for performing rituals to idols) wells. The Picottah stone pillar was found in front of Sribalandi Ayyanar Temple situated on the bunds of Pattakkulam tank in the village.

The rectangular stone pillar was seven feet in height and one-and-a-half feet in width and its top was narrow. At the bottom an inscription of five lines was found.

Those lines described ‘Swastishri Ariyan Choran Vijaya Kangar’. Kangar dug the well and donated the Picottah. However, the well did not remain in existence, Rajaguru said.

Vizhuppanur, which is very close to this village, has a similar Picottah stone pillar with the Sundara Pandya inscription that says a man from the Malai Mandalam (Kerala) built a well and the Picottah.

Further, on the road from Virudhunagar to Srivilliputtur via Amathur and Mangalam, such wells were dug at Vellur, Vizhuppanur, Manakacherry, Maraneri and Arjunapuram villages during the Pandya period.

At the end of the 13th century AD, it was known that there was water scarcity in those areas. Based on the script of the inscription, it could be assumed that it belonged to the 13th-14th century AD of the later Pandyas, he said.