400-yr-old hero stones may end up as drain covers, fear locals

VELLORE: Three 400-year-old hero stones, brought to light by the students of Government Kalaimagal Arts College in Gudiyattam, are likely to end up as drain covers if officialdom fails to act expeditiously, sources revealed.

The three stones were detected at the base of a hillock in Rangampettai in Gundalapalli village panchayat near Pernambut by locals and college students hailing from the village.

About 25 students from the college’s history department led by HOD Dr K Viajayarangan and assistant professor S Jayavel worked for two days and finally excavated the stones with the help of a JCB on Thursday.

Revealing this, professor Viljayarangan said the stones dated to the 16th century Nayak period and revealed a king going to war on a horse and being seen off by his wives.

“Usually princes and army leaders would lead soldiers into battle, but here a king himself is seen leading troops to battle,” he said. The other two stones also revealed similar tales.

When asked whether local villagers applied turmeric and Kumkum to the stones as seen in the picture, professor Jayavel said “no we applied turmeric and kumkum ourselves as such hero stones related to ancestor worship which is part of local culture.”

Asked about the next step, he said: “We plan to inform the Vellore government museum curator Saravanan about this and wait for them to act quickly. If action is not taken immediately, then the stones might be used as drain covers as feared by locals. They said such stones found earlier had met with the same fate.”

When DT Next spoke to curator Saravanan, he said: “The proper procedure for the finders, under the Indian Treasure Trove Act 1899, is to inform the district Collector who will then issue orders on the action to be taken.”

Stating that the process to acquire the three hero stones would take a minimum of three months, he said, “this time it was necessary to find if the stones belonged to some ancient local temple. The museum can acquire the stones only when there are no claimants.”