“The large, rectangular tub, which is hewn out of a rock, contains a five-lined inscription. It can be dated back to a period over one hundred and forty years, since the year of its donation is mentioned in the inscription as ‘Thunthum(b)i Varushamâ€. Its equivalent year is 1862†says Sundaram.
In the Coimbatore of a bygone era, when motor vehicles were not invented, people walked from place to place and transported things on bullock carts. In order to quench the thirst of the animals, philanthropists of those days dug wells at certain spots and made stone-tubs near the wells.
The present generation has little chance to know the names of such donors.Nevertheless, throwing light on the city’s past, a stone-tub with an inscription mentioning the name of the philanthropist, who made and donated it for an agricultural purpose, is seen at a spot in Maniampalayam on Perumanallur-Nambiyur Road in the present day Tirupur district.
City-based epigraphist D. Sundaram, who recently stumbled upon the artifact, has deciphered the inscription and brought to light an object used in the conventional method of water management in the yesteryear Coimbatore.
“The large, rectangular tub, which is hewn out of a rock, contains a five-lined inscription. It can be dated back to a period over one hundred and forty years, since the year of its donation is mentioned in the inscription as ‘Thunthum(b)i Varushamâ€. Its equivalent year is 1862†says Sundaram.
With words in the vernacular becoming extinct in the fleeting of time, the stone-tub was called ‘Pannaiyodi’ according to the inscription.
“After going through the inscription, I browsed through several dictionaries, but could not find the exact meaning of the word ‘Pannayodi’, since the expression could have been exclusive in the vernacular Kongu Tamil of those days. However, the Kalvettu Sollagarathy, a two -volume epigraphical lexicon, provided the meaning of the word ‘Pannai’ as ‘Neer Nilai’ (Any water body as tank or pond or lake). Hence, the stone-tub, which contains a hole at its bottom to let out water, was used to irrigate the plants and trees on a field. Before the invention of modern irrigation equipment, the conventional method of irrigating the agrarian land was by using the Kapilai, a water-lift consisting of a large hemispherical leather or iron bucket worked with bullocks to draw water from the well. Then each bucket of water drawn from the well was poured into this stone-tub called ‘Pannayodi’, which would slowly convey the water to the plants and trees in the fieldâ€
When consulted, the Tamil Lexicon of the University of Madras, the word ‘Pannai’ gives a closer meaning to the inscription as ‘a basin or trench for water round the root of a tree’. Hence, the stone-tub, which is mentioned as ‘Pannaiyodi’ in the inscription, would mean a tub, which channels water to such basins or trenches round the roots of trees in a farm.
“The inscription says that the stone-tub was donated by one Maalai Kounder, son of Chinnayya Kounder from the clan Melmaniyar of the Pala Vellalar community from Thuravalur, which is now corrupted to ‘Thoravalur’. The epigraph also contains a reference to the local deity, as it reads that the charity may be protected by Azhagapperumal - a deity whose shrine is located in the village Thoravalur†explains Sundaram.
In the typical Kongu Tamil dialect, the sound of ‘r’ in a word changes to ‘l’and vice versa, as heard fromthe yesteryearruralites of Coimbatore, who would mispronounce ‘radio’ as ‘ladia’ and ‘lorry’ as ‘raali’! The mispronunciation is echoed even in the inscription, with the last line on the Almighty’s protection for the charity reading as ‘Azhagapperumal ‘L’atchikka’ instead of Azhagapperumal ‘R’atchikka’
The present generation has little chance to know the names of such donors.Nevertheless, throwing light on the city’s past, a stone-tub with an inscription mentioning the name of the philanthropist, who made and donated it for an agricultural purpose, is seen at a spot in Maniampalayam on Perumanallur-Nambiyur Road in the present day Tirupur district.
City-based epigraphist D. Sundaram, who recently stumbled upon the artifact, has deciphered the inscription and brought to light an object used in the conventional method of water management in the yesteryear Coimbatore.
“The large, rectangular tub, which is hewn out of a rock, contains a five-lined inscription. It can be dated back to a period over one hundred and forty years, since the year of its donation is mentioned in the inscription as ‘Thunthum(b)i Varushamâ€. Its equivalent year is 1862†says Sundaram.
With words in the vernacular becoming extinct in the fleeting of time, the stone-tub was called ‘Pannaiyodi’ according to the inscription.
“After going through the inscription, I browsed through several dictionaries, but could not find the exact meaning of the word ‘Pannayodi’, since the expression could have been exclusive in the vernacular Kongu Tamil of those days. However, the Kalvettu Sollagarathy, a two -volume epigraphical lexicon, provided the meaning of the word ‘Pannai’ as ‘Neer Nilai’ (Any water body as tank or pond or lake). Hence, the stone-tub, which contains a hole at its bottom to let out water, was used to irrigate the plants and trees on a field. Before the invention of modern irrigation equipment, the conventional method of irrigating the agrarian land was by using the Kapilai, a water-lift consisting of a large hemispherical leather or iron bucket worked with bullocks to draw water from the well. Then each bucket of water drawn from the well was poured into this stone-tub called ‘Pannayodi’, which would slowly convey the water to the plants and trees in the fieldâ€
When consulted, the Tamil Lexicon of the University of Madras, the word ‘Pannai’ gives a closer meaning to the inscription as ‘a basin or trench for water round the root of a tree’. Hence, the stone-tub, which is mentioned as ‘Pannaiyodi’ in the inscription, would mean a tub, which channels water to such basins or trenches round the roots of trees in a farm.
“The inscription says that the stone-tub was donated by one Maalai Kounder, son of Chinnayya Kounder from the clan Melmaniyar of the Pala Vellalar community from Thuravalur, which is now corrupted to ‘Thoravalur’. The epigraph also contains a reference to the local deity, as it reads that the charity may be protected by Azhagapperumal - a deity whose shrine is located in the village Thoravalur†explains Sundaram.
In the typical Kongu Tamil dialect, the sound of ‘r’ in a word changes to ‘l’and vice versa, as heard fromthe yesteryearruralites of Coimbatore, who would mispronounce ‘radio’ as ‘ladia’ and ‘lorry’ as ‘raali’! The mispronunciation is echoed even in the inscription, with the last line on the Almighty’s protection for the charity reading as ‘Azhagapperumal ‘L’atchikka’ instead of Azhagapperumal ‘R’atchikka’