A hero stone at Peruntholvu hamlet of Karur district in Tamil Nadu, though remaining little known to the outside world, has rich tales to tell from the 17th century.
Since authorities have not given adequate publicity of its significance, even some villagers in the area are still worshipping the stone mistaking the hero’s picture carved out on the stone as Hanuman (Anjaneyar) due to vague resemblance and because of the fact that the memorial had been lying near a Perumal temple.
“Actually the sculpture itself speaks volumes of tales showing the ‘hero’ (i.e. people who got killed while displaying valour to protect the cattle in the villages from leopard/ tiger in whose memory hero stones are usually kept) piercing a sword through a tiger's body even as legs of the tiger were placed on his thighs”, explained S. Ravikumar, an archaeologist who studied various hero stones in the district.
Due to the absence of inscriptions on the stone, the name of the hero could not be ascertained.
“But from the style of the hero’s hair and few other parameters of carvings on the stone, the memorial can be inferred as 400 years old”, Mr. Ravikumar pointed out.
Even the hamlet of Peruntholvu, where the hero stone is found, has opulent historical journey which too would be very little known to people even within Tirupur district.
“The hamlet has its existence dated back to 3,000 years and it was the capital of one of the 24 divisions in Kongunadu. The details of which is found in some of the history books though present day generation might not be aware of such recordings”, pointed out Mr. Ravikumar.
