Chennai: Hero stones and stone inscriptions belonging to the period of Vijayanagara empire have been found in villages in Tiruvannamalai district by members of the archaeological research centre.
Members of the centre, including S Balamurugan, C Palanisamy, and M Raja, visited the villages based on information given by J Siva from Kettavarampalayam. They found a stone inscription on the girivala pathway in Thenmathimangalam village.It has a sun, moon and the Tiruvannamalai hill inscribed on it. It also has details of land donations made in the region and how taxes differ for crops planted in the Tamil months of Karthigai and Chittirai. It also speaks of donations made to the temple.
In the stone inscription found in Perumalpalayam, there is information about the donation made in the year 1587 to Thevarayanpalayam, which is also a village in Tiruvannamalai.
In this stone inscription too, the Tiruvannamalai hill is seen etched in the shape of a triangle. This shows that the hill has always been important, said Balamurugan.
Two hero stones, one in Thevarayanpalayam and another in Velananthal, which were buried and damaged, were retrieved with the help of the local people and installed in the same place where they were found. So far, six hero stones and two stone inscriptions have been saved and preserved through the efforts of J Siva, said Balamurugan.