HISTORY, LEGENDS & MYTHOLOGY

Temples' inscriptions a rich source of history
by Jehova G

     Coimbatore: The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has launched a drive to make people visiting religious places aware of their historical importance and make them conscious of preserving ancient inscriptions that are a source of history. One often finds religious places being damaged or defaced with graffiti. In Uthamallingeswarar temple, the inscriptions reveal that temples were used as a social centre such as bank, theatre and as an agricultural centre. But most of these inscriptions have been damaged. People have been performing religious rituals in temples like since time immemorial. These temples were constructed and stone inscriptions were used by the rulers to remind the future generation about the contributions made by the rulers to society. "All the people regardless of their faith come here. They organise their religious ceremonies . But at the same time, they must know what the rulers had done to the temple and the society," says Dr. Ganesan, Researcher on inscriptions, Bharathiyar University.

     Most of the stone inscriptions give the devotees an insight into the social structure during that period, especially, the agrarian and trade sectors. "This temple was constructed during 12th century. Here we find large number of inscriptions in and around this temple revealing details of the ancient history, particularly in the field of agriculture and trade. We are maintaining this temple for the past three generation," said Periyasamy, Trustee of the temple. "I had been to many temples all over the country .During my visit to these temples I used to read all the stone inscriptions on the walls of the temples. From this Uthamallingeswarar temple, I found few inscriptions that give some details about the agricultural administration of the king in those days," says Subramaniam, a devotee. Most of the inscriptions found in South India particularly from Tamil Nadu are in Brahmi scripts, are also known as Tamil Brahmi. It has been estimated that, so far, more than two lakh inscriptions are available but only 20,000 inscriptions have been published by the Archaeological Survey of India. Inscriptions have always been a very important source for understanding the history and culture of India. Most of the inscriptions furnish information about the rulers of the particular period.They also give knowledge about the art of construction of dams.
-Aug 26, 2005    

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