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History enthusiasts Perur Jayaraman and Anbarasu share their views on the Rajakesari Peruvazhi inscription: Picture by L.Anantharaman |
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| The inscription found in the Madukarai forest |
The venba, a
four-lined Tamil poem inscribed on the rock praises a Chola king for
his relaying an ancient highway and trade route called 'Rajakesari
Peruvazhi' which had connected the east and west seashores before the
Christian era. The poem, inscribed in the old Tamil vattezhuthu
( rounded alphabet), praises the
king for his deployment of a 'shadow army' in the highway to protect
the traveling traders from the attack of robbers. But now, one can
hardly believe the location of the inscription is the disused
Rajakesari Peruvazhi, for it is now a haunt of wild elephants.
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| Archeologist Poongundran's imprint of the inscription in 1976 |
“ Though
elders in our village hardly knew to mention it as 'kalvettu', a
technical Tamil term for stone inscription, they simply called it
'ezhuthu parai' ( Letter rock) “ says Anbarasu, a native of
Ettimadai, a forest fringe on Tamil Nadu – Kerala borders in
Coimbatore.
Anbarasu,
who was once a shepherd, used to read magazines as his cows and goats
grazed in the woods. As usual on a day, he was busy reading a book
about the disused ancient highway Rajakesari Peruvazhi.
Interestingly, the Rajakesari Peruvazhi was nothing other than the
spot where Anbarasu was reading the book!
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| Epigraphist D.Sundaram's rewriting of the old Tamil vattezhuthu inscription |
“ I
was much elated to know that I was at the spot, which the book was
telling me about ! “ he avers.
As heard from his ancestors, Anbarasu recalls another interesting incident on the inscription:
" As the epigraph was a mystery to the villagers, they believed that the ununderstandable writing in it contained the secret of a treasure, which was buried inside a nearby well. They had also been of the opinion that a 'Bootham' (a goblin) was keeping watch of the treasure. And one day, the people even got a yagna performed by the local priests to appease the 'Bootham' and get his 'permission' to dig up the 'treasure !. The superstitious people did not know that the well was constructed by the king to quench the thirst of the traveling traders and their horses and bullocks "
As heard from his ancestors, Anbarasu recalls another interesting incident on the inscription:
" As the epigraph was a mystery to the villagers, they believed that the ununderstandable writing in it contained the secret of a treasure, which was buried inside a nearby well. They had also been of the opinion that a 'Bootham' (a goblin) was keeping watch of the treasure. And one day, the people even got a yagna performed by the local priests to appease the 'Bootham' and get his 'permission' to dig up the 'treasure !. The superstitious people did not know that the well was constructed by the king to quench the thirst of the traveling traders and their horses and bullocks "
Recalling
a different experience, 68 year-old Perur Jayaraman, a well- known
source person for Coimbatore history, shares how he stumbled upon the
stone inscription:
“ While
I was a boy, I accompanied a s
ervant of our farmland to take lunch
for a man that was absconding at K.G.Chavady, being accused of a
crime. On our way from Perur to Chavady through the forest, we halted
at a spot. There, a man met our servant and told him that his friend
was sleeping on the 'ezhuthu parai'. And that was when, I heard the
inscription being called so”
Having
observed the four-lined inscription, a
surprised Jayaraman told his parents that it was written in a
'ruled notebook', as a horizontal line ran engraved under each line
in the epigraph!
Though
Anbarasu and Perur Jayaraman hail from Ettimadai and Perur
respectively and had little chance to meet each other, City
Express brought the two together
for a freewheeling chat on Rajakesari Peruvazhi. The history
enthusiasts recalled how the stone inscription had an impact on the
people living in the forest fringe.
However,
R. Poongundran, former assistant director, Tamil Nadu Archeolgy
Department, who deciphered the inscription in 1976 , says:
“ The epigraph mentions only a
Chola king's title as 'Kokandan'. Even R. Nagasamy, the then director
of Tamil Nadu Archeology department, opined that the title could
refer to king Rajaraja. But, after long years, when I stumbled upon
another stone inscription mentioning king Aditya Chola I as
'Kokandan', I confirmed that he was the one that relaid the
Rajakesari Peruvazhi,which ran through Coimbatore for many centuries
even before the Christian era”
Link to the feature in The NewIndian Express: http://epaper.newindianexpress.com/c/16779468
