Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SS)
Udupi, Feb 22: A triangular shaped stone inscription has been found near the Panchadhoomapati temple in Nittur. The inscription was found when the road near the temple was being widened and after completion of the laying of the concrete road.
The inscription was found right in the middle of the road where the vehicles take a turn and was found underneath the layer of mud.
After the inscription was cleaned up, images of sun, moon and a man's body with weapons in his hand were found engraved.
According to a local resident Umesh Mendon, when Udupi experienced one of the heaviest rainfalls resulting in flooding during 1983 they had relocated from Bannanje to Nittur by building a house here. He said the place looked like a barren hillock then. He said people used to offer milk to the stone inscription and that the stone has remained in the same position and in the same state. An apartment and a commercial complex have come up in the vicinity and a few apartment dwellers light lamps at the stone and offer salutations, he said.
Based on the information of the stone inscription provided by Upendra Mendon, a local resident, social worker Ganesh Raj Sarlebettu along with Jayashetty visited the place. Prof T Murugeshi was contacted to find out about the stone inscription's archeological importance and its history, which is a gymnasium stone.
It is said that these stones are used as remembrances for those who died gallantly in wars or battles.
Ganesh Raj Sarlebettu says that such stone inscriptions should be preserved appropriately by the locals and the government authorities.