Tamil Nadu: Inscribed 9th century grinding stone found in Andipatty

CHENNAI: A ninth century old grinding stone with ancient Tamil inscriptions has been found on top of a rock in Andipatty, 60km from Madurai, on the ancient Chera trade route. The inscription in Tamil which reads, “Thenmuttanattu Kannimangalam Kudiyan Sevadi Iduvicha Chekku” (The grinding stone was installed by Kudiyan in Kannimangalam of Thenmuttanattu).
“The grinding stone with inscriptions is significant because it belongs to the 9th century.The name “Kannimangalam” may be the place near Madurai called Kinnimangalam where a memorial slab with Tamil Brahmi inscriptions were found recently,” said K T Gandhirajan, a rock art expert who found the grinding stone a week ago.
Since the inscription is in ancient Tamil, Gandhirajan took the help of senior epigraphist S Rajavelu to decipher it. “The villagers might have used this grinding stone for extracting oil. There are chances that they might have used it for making medicines as well. The inscriptions say the grinding stone was installed in the name of god — Kudiyan. It is significant as it falls on the ancient Chera trade route,” said Rajavelu.
Normally, these types of grinding stones are donated to places of worship by the chieftains of a region. The idea is to use it for common use. “This grinding stone belongs to the Pandya period. If we study the inscriptions in connection with the ones found nearby, we will be able to find its importance,” he said.
Though grinding stones are found across Tamil Nadu, no one has come forward to study them in detail.