KRISHNAGIRI: A team of amateur archaeologists have discovered two hero stones estimated to be belonging to the 13th century near Denkanikottai in Krishnagiri district. The stones depict women heading for battle.
President of the Krishnagiri District History Search Organisation (KDHSO)
Aram A Krishnan
said that the team discovered the stones at
Sandhanapalli village
near Denkanikottai. “Both the stones are rare as they were made in honour of women. Hero stones were made to honour a war hero or king who got killed in battle. Some of such stones have images of a woman standing by men. We have never seen hero stones honouring women going for battle before,” he told TOI.
The team, consisted of Manjunath, Piriyan, Srinivas, Kamaraj, Sivakumar, Murugeshapandian apart from Krishnan, discovered the stones in a small temple situated at
Sandhanapalli
village. The stones were 3.5 feet high and four feet wide.
“One of them had three women riding horses with weapons while the other stone had two women riding horses,” Krishnan said. “Of the three women, the one in the middle looks like a queen who ruled the region as there is an umbrella above her head. The other two women on horses could be her officials or maid or warriors. The queen and her companions carry small weapons in their right hands. A male walking in front of them could be their guardian or a warrior. They could have belonged to the 13th century,” he said.
Residents of Sandhanapalli village call the temple Panniamman temple. “They did not know that both the stones were hero stones. They used to worship the stones along with the idols not knowing their importance,” Krishnan said.
The team has sought the support of retired archaeologists R Poongundran, Veeraraghavan, T
Subramanian
and A Padmavathi to know more about the significance of the stones.
“We could not find any supportive inscriptions that could help us identify the era the heroes belonged to,” Krishnan added.
Start a Conversation
Post comment