After an exhibition showcasing the surviving inscription stones of the city, the Inscription Stones of Bangalore team has put all the traced and untraced inscriptions on Google Maps.
Not only are locations of the inscriptions marked on the map, but also the full text of the inscription in Kannada and English, current status, size of stone, year of installation, the publication where the inscription is documented, reference documents and photographs-videos of the inscription.
People can get directions to each inscription stone.
“The map currently has information on 150 inscription stones in Bengaluru urban region. Of these, 32 stones are the ones which have survived and were found. The other stones have been coloured marked to indicate that they have either been destroyed or are untraceable. We are working on adding similar data for stones in the rural regions, including Hosakote, Devanahalli, Magadi, Ramnagara and Anekal,” said Uday Kumar P.L., who started the initiative.
Already, details on 80 stones in Hosakote and 20 in Magadi taluk are on the map. In total, the map will have information on 1,000-odd stones.
While these stones are important given the historic information they have, they also play a big role in the study of language and evolution of a region. Kannada, Tamil, Telugu are the languages found on these inscriptions.
“The text of all Kannada inscriptions has been uploaded. The ones in Tamil and Telugu are being put out,” Mr. Uday Kumar said.
Just like the exhibition, this too is a citizen-driven initiative. The idea behind putting the stones on the map is to increase awareness. “We want people to go see them, learn and study them,” he said.
The details are also being uploaded on Mapunity — another free platform. It allows for detailed search based on period, language and keywords, Mr. Uday Kumar said.
The team is also planning to bring out Wikipedia pages, video files and articles. “This project has generated a lot of interest. People are using the map to see the stones and even search for missing ones,” he added.
