Plaque revealing private charity found in Thanjavur

Trichy: A 19th century stone inscription throwing light on the deep-rooted culture of private charity in Tamil society was found in Thanjavur by a group of historical researchers recently. Measuring about 1.5 feet wide and 2.5 feet high with 30 lines, it was found when a house belonging to a Maratha family was demolished on Rajagopalaswami Temple Street in Kittappa Vattaram.On coming to know about it, a team of researchers comprising Mani Maran, historian and Tamil pandit at Saraswathi Mahal Library, retired headmaster G Thillai Govindarajan, graduate teacher G Jayalakshmi, and S Saravanan, a student of palm-leaf manuscript studies, visited the site on Mar 31 and began studying the inscription.Dated Jan 17, 1889, the inscription was written by a person named Vengo Paattakar from the Marathi family. It records a charitable endowment established by his younger brother Nago Paattakar according to the will and instructions of their sibling Annu Paattakar. It said the upper portion of the house was dedicated to ‘Dwadashi Kattalai,' a charity that fed ten people on auspicious days. A permanent deposit of Rs400 was set aside, with monthly interest of Rs3 used to sustain annadanam or food offering.Nago Paattakar, along with his elder sister Kamakshi Ammal, provided the food offering from the monthly interest. The responsibility for continuing the charity was later to pass to Nago's niece Ganga Bai Ammal and entrusted with their future generations.The researchers said the discovery offers fresh evidence of how ordinary families, through permanent endowments, sustained public welfare long after the decline of royal rule. "Tamil literature and inscriptions repeatedly prove that common citizens matched kings in performing acts of charity. Such endowments supported travellers, provided medical aid, and ensured regular feeding — a tradition that once flourished across Tamil Nadu," Dr. Mani Maran said.