Coimbatore needs no introduction for its location adjacent to Kerala. But it is surprising that a ‘Kerala’ is found within Coimbatore! The village’s name ‘Veera Keralam’ on the city outskirts, if researched, will unfold the Coimbatore of 12th century CE under the Veerakeralas - the kings who ruled the south Kongu region for around 250 years from 945-1200 CE. Throwing new light on their rule in Coimbatore, an inscribed Nadukal (Hero stone), which was deciphered a couple of years ago after three decades from its discovery, refers to the name of the Veerakerala king Athiraja Rajan. The new piece from Coimbatore’s cultural history was brought to light by the measures taken by a team of youth in the city.
Coimbatore needs no introduction for its location adjacent to Kerala. But it is surprising that a ‘Kerala’ is found within Coimbatore! The village’s name ‘Veera Keralam’ on the city outskirts, if researched, will unfold the Coimbatore of 12th century CE under the Veerakeralas - the kings who ruled the south Kongu region for around 250 years from 945-1200 CE. Throwing new light on their rule in Coimbatore, an inscribed Nadukal (Hero stone), which was deciphered a couple of years ago after three decades from its discovery, refers to the name of the Veerakerala king Athiraja Rajan. The new piece from Coimbatore’s cultural history was brought to light by the measures taken by a team of youth in the city.
“The hero stone, which depicts in its bas-relief, a warrior stabbing his enemy, is found in our museum. The memorial on a slain warrior was discovered at Selakarachal, a village near Sulur some three decades ago by R. Poongundran, an eminent archaeologist and former Assistant Director, Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department. Amidst his busy work schedules and transfers in job, Poongundran found little time to decipher the inscription. But now, a team of three young history enthusiasts S.Anandakumar, R.Kumaravel and N.Sudhakar cleaned the memorial with utmost care and got it deciphered by the same Poongundran, who had discovered it three decades ago” said C.Sivakumar, the then curator of Government Museum, Coimbatore.
While Anandakumar is a 33-year-old tattoo artist, the 30-year old Kumaravel is self-employed and Sudhakar of the same age is a staff in a private firm.
Interpreting the inscription, Anand said:
“The inscription informs that a warrior from the Pooluvar community, an indigenous ethnic group of Coimbatore, was killed in a fight with his enemy for the cause of protecting his people. But, unfortunately, the part of the inscription, where the warrior’s name and the gift made to him for his sacrifice could have been carved, is effaced with time. Interestingly, the 800-year-old inscription mentions the names of two places in Coimbatore as ‘Sirakerichal’ and ‘Pallodam’, which are now corrupted to ‘Selakarachal’ and ‘Palladam’. The inscribed hero stone was erected in the sixth regnal year of the Veerakerala king Athiraja Rajan of 12th century CE,” added Anand.
It is epigraphist R. Jegadeesan, who dated the chronology of the kings from the Veerakerala dynasty. Interestingly, he calculated and discovered the period of the Veerakeral kings based on the planetary positions mentioned in the two inscriptions- one at Palani, the southern border of the ancient Kongu region, and the other at the Muthuvaliammai Udanamar Muttathu Nageshwarar Thirukovil in Coimbatore.
“The inscriptions throw light on the dates of conducting the Mahamaham festival once in twelve years, based on the planetary positions. It helped me date the period of the Veeakerala king Athiraja Rajan as 1093-1116 CE, whose name is mentioned in the inscription on the hero stone deciphered by Poongundran a couple of years ago” informed Jegadeesan.
On his discovery of the hero stone at Selakarichal around three decades ago, eminent archaeologist Poongundran, who authored the books Nadukal Kalvetukkal, Tholkudi Velir and many more, said:
“The tradition of erecting hero stones in memory of the slain warriors in Tamil Nadu dates back to many centuries. The Tamil classics including Tolkappiyam and Purananuru speak on the erection of hero stones. Though I discovered this 12th century hero stone from a farmland of one Venkatesan at Selakarichal three decades ago, I found little time to decipher the inscription due to my busy work schedules and frequent transfers in job. Nevertheless, I am glad that I have deciphered it now and given a fresh piece of information on Coimbatore history after 30 years from its discovery. The inscribed hero stone seems to have waited for me for these long years!” averred Poongundran.
“The hero stone, which depicts in its bas-relief, a warrior stabbing his enemy, is found in our museum. The memorial on a slain warrior was discovered at Selakarachal, a village near Sulur some three decades ago by R. Poongundran, an eminent archaeologist and former Assistant Director, Tamil Nadu Archaeology Department. Amidst his busy work schedules and transfers in job, Poongundran found little time to decipher the inscription. But now, a team of three young history enthusiasts S.Anandakumar, R.Kumaravel and N.Sudhakar cleaned the memorial with utmost care and got it deciphered by the same Poongundran, who had discovered it three decades ago” said C.Sivakumar, the then curator of Government Museum, Coimbatore.
While Anandakumar is a 33-year-old tattoo artist, the 30-year old Kumaravel is self-employed and Sudhakar of the same age is a staff in a private firm.
Interpreting the inscription, Anand said:
“The inscription informs that a warrior from the Pooluvar community, an indigenous ethnic group of Coimbatore, was killed in a fight with his enemy for the cause of protecting his people. But, unfortunately, the part of the inscription, where the warrior’s name and the gift made to him for his sacrifice could have been carved, is effaced with time. Interestingly, the 800-year-old inscription mentions the names of two places in Coimbatore as ‘Sirakerichal’ and ‘Pallodam’, which are now corrupted to ‘Selakarachal’ and ‘Palladam’. The inscribed hero stone was erected in the sixth regnal year of the Veerakerala king Athiraja Rajan of 12th century CE,” added Anand.
It is epigraphist R. Jegadeesan, who dated the chronology of the kings from the Veerakerala dynasty. Interestingly, he calculated and discovered the period of the Veerakeral kings based on the planetary positions mentioned in the two inscriptions- one at Palani, the southern border of the ancient Kongu region, and the other at the Muthuvaliammai Udanamar Muttathu Nageshwarar Thirukovil in Coimbatore.
“The inscriptions throw light on the dates of conducting the Mahamaham festival once in twelve years, based on the planetary positions. It helped me date the period of the Veeakerala king Athiraja Rajan as 1093-1116 CE, whose name is mentioned in the inscription on the hero stone deciphered by Poongundran a couple of years ago” informed Jegadeesan.
On his discovery of the hero stone at Selakarichal around three decades ago, eminent archaeologist Poongundran, who authored the books Nadukal Kalvetukkal, Tholkudi Velir and many more, said:
“The tradition of erecting hero stones in memory of the slain warriors in Tamil Nadu dates back to many centuries. The Tamil classics including Tolkappiyam and Purananuru speak on the erection of hero stones. Though I discovered this 12th century hero stone from a farmland of one Venkatesan at Selakarichal three decades ago, I found little time to decipher the inscription due to my busy work schedules and frequent transfers in job. Nevertheless, I am glad that I have deciphered it now and given a fresh piece of information on Coimbatore history after 30 years from its discovery. The inscribed hero stone seems to have waited for me for these long years!” averred Poongundran.