Aims and objectives
The project aims to survey and digitally document endangered memorial stones in four taluks in the Dharmapuri district of Tamil Nadu, and to help in their preservation for posterity. The region hosts probably the largest number of memorial stones in the state, erected between the sixth and 19th century. The memorial stones are an important record of the socioeconomic, political, religious and cultural history of ordinary people, and of the development of both Tamil and Kannada scripts over the span of nearly 1,400 years.
Hero stones and memorial stones are usually planted at or very near the place where the heroes died and remain where they have been plated. Today they lie in various places – in land adjoining forests, in fields, on tank bunds and some even in the centre of villages. These stones are largely uncared for, left to face the vagaries of weather and adverse human activity. Given their age and these conditions, inscriptions and figures depicted on these stones slowly wear out with time. Furthermore, there have been some instances of vandalism and destruction, with some inscriptions getting defaced and worn off. In other places where the stones are worshipped, repeated anointments are applied to the stones. Misunderstandings have resulted in some of the hero stones being discarded or even buried.
