Rare sculpture with elephant found

The Tiruvannamalai Centre for Historical Research recently discovered a rare elephant sculpture in a temple near here, sources said. A six-member team from the centre lead by its secretary S Balamurugan based on information visited the Navaneetha Gopalakrishnaswamy temple at Mekkalur village near Kilpennathur where they found a sculpture of an elephant dating back to either the 10th or 1th centuries, sources added.

The sculpture was 4 feet high and 2 feet wide with a semicircular portion at the top. The elephant is shown with its trunk bent while the lower portion of the stone reveals that the elephant was named Nilakandaraiyan by one Sripathan Divakaran during the period when the area was under the rule of the Sambuvarayars.