A research team of Virarajendran Archaeological and Historical Research Centre here has found two milestones from the British era lying unnoticed of its historical importance and with the possibilities of getting displaced during road widening works.
The one of the stones is near Palladam and the other one at J. Krishnapuram.
Features
“The stones were erected as per the British road rules pattern. Apart from mentioning the distance in ‘miles’, there are many other peculiarities in the stone,” said Ravikumar Sundaram, director of the research centre.
Most important aspect was that both Tamil and Arabic numericals were used and stones were little bigger than the stones that were erected after Independence, he added.
Another curious thing is the way Palladam and Udumalpet was spelt as ‘Pulladom’ and ‘Oodamalapata’ in a typical British accent.
“The word Udumalpet in Tamil has been engraved wrongly which indicates that the British directly erected the stones,” said Mr. Ravikumar.
The stones were found on the routes which the British used when they waged a war with Tippu Sultan.
‘Preserve them’
“We hope that the authorities will take steps to preserve such milestones. Otherwise it could be removed carelessly during road widening projects,” said Mr. Ravikumar.
