A team from the Chennai Circle of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a hero stone, likely to be from the 4th to 5th Century CE, at V. Nerkunam village in Vikravandi taluk, Villupuram district.
Palaeographic analysis of the inscription on the stone indicated that it was from a period when the script was transitioning from Tamil Brahmi to Vatteluttu script, ASI officials said. “While some of the letters were in Tamil Brahmi, others were in Vatteluttu. It is based on this palaeographic analysis that we are dating the stone to be from the 4th to 5th Century CE,” said R. Ramesh, assistant archaeologist, Chennai Circle, ASI.
The team visited the village after being alerted by two residents — Chandramouleeswaran and Gnanavalli. The stone was lying almost fully buried. On unearthing it, it was found to be partially broken with the first line of the inscription missing. According to Mr. Ramesh, the remaining five lines available read that the hero stone was installed in memory of the youngest son of a person named Kizhan Maraiyaman from Nerkundram village, who died in a battle at the village.
“The inscription also indicates that the village has retained almost the same name throughout these centuries. It has just transformed from Nerkundram to Nerkunam now,” he said.
Apart from this, sculptures of Goddess Maheshwari and Lord Vinayaka from 10th century CE were also found in this village. The team from ASI included M. Prasanna, assistant archaeologist, and P.T. Nagarajan, assistant epigraphist.
