Post No. 15,077
Date uploaded in London – 11 October 2025
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Pictures are taken from various sources for spreading knowledge.
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tamilandvedas.com, swamiindology.blogspot.com
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Akananuru (naanooru) wonders continued……………….
எழுத்துடை நடுகல்
Part twenty
Item 125
Interesting customs found in Akananuru:
Coastal fisher woman worshipping Vedic God Varunan by planting Shark fin bone.
Brahmins sent as messengers as told by Tolkappiar.
Women counting days by marking on the wall;
People are listening to lizard clicks to find out good and bad things to come;
Women worshipping crescent moon;
Girls making false cries to attract male youths; Tamil word Venkai stands for both tiger and a tree. Girls shout Venaki, Venaki and the youths come running to save them; and the girls laugh at the youths; but one or two youths will be trapped by the tricky girls.
Women’s games are described in several poems: they played with crabs, chased parrots from the paddy fields; built sand castles;
Soldiers worship hero stones before going to battlefield.
Soldiers look for good omens before marching;
Brahmins who dot follow Vedic rituals make bangles by cutting conches.
Bride is bathed by Four Sumangalis who gave birth to children;
Cowherds take food/ pack lunch in bamboo holes and tie them on the neck of the cow;
Placing spear and other instruments used by a hero near the Hero stones.
Coastal people taking salt bags on the back of the donkeys for selling.
***
126
There are more interesting details ; we will look at them now:-
Three Akam poems (53, 67 and 269; also Ainkuru.352) tell us about the Hero stones with Tamil inscriptions. But until very recently such ancient stones were not discovered. So archaeologist K V Sundararajan raised doubts about the age of such poems. At that time the oldest hero stone was dated Sixth century CE. But in 2006 newspapers reported Hero stones with Brahmi letters and experts placed them in BCE period. Old Brahmi inscriptions never mentioned dates, and they were very short. And so, we need more clearcut evidence for Hero stones with Tamil inscription.
Tamils have the habit of pushing all the Brahmi inscriptions to fourth century BCE which is ridiculous. Asoka’s brahmi inscriptions are very long with lot of information, where as Tamil Brahmi inscriptions are not only very short but also in Prakrit or colloquial , ungrammatical Tamil .So they must be later than , much more later than Asoka’s inscriptions.
We know that Orissa king Kharavela marched into Pandya country and defeated the Pandya king according to Hathikumbha cave inscriptions in Orissa. On another side, Mauryans laid road routes in Western Ghats and marched towards or into Tamil Nadu according to Mamular’s Sangam verses. But in that part, that is Karnataka- Tamil Nadu border, we don’t find hero stones with inscription. From Pallava period only we get inscriptions. Jains must have brought it into Tamil nadu. That shows northern origin of Brahmi script.
Karnataka has more documented hero stones than Tamil Nadu. Nearly 3000 hero stones are in Karnataka from sixth century CE
The big question about Tamil Brahmi inscriptions is why didn’t Tamils write legibly like Asoka?
Why didn’t Tamils write at least three lines?
Why do we have to guess the meaning and put words into the mouths of dead people?
Even the very late sixth century CE ones don’t have long sentences.
My guess is Tamils did not practise writing on stones or on any material until sixth or seventh century. Even Lord Shiva’s letter to Cheraman (Kerala King) belongs to post Sangam period.
Some of the references to Hero stones with writings on it:–
விழுத்தொடை மறவர் வில் இட வீழ்ந்தோர்
எழுத்துடை நடுகல் இன் நிழல் வதியும்
அருஞ்சுரக் கவலை நீந்தி என்றும்,- Akam 53
****
அரம் போழ் நுதிய வாளி அம்பின்,
நிரம்பா நோக்கின் நிரையங்கொண்மார்,
நெல்லி நீளிடை எல்லி மண்டி
நல் அமர்க் கடந்த நாணுடை மறவர்
பெயரும் பீடும் எழுதி அதர்தொறும்
பீலி சூட்டிய பிறங்கு நிலை நடுகல் Akam- 67
***
ஏறுடை இனநிரை பெயரப்; பெயராது
செறிசுரை வெள்வேல் மழவர்த் தாங்கிய
தறுக ணாளர் நல்லிசை நிறுமார்,
பிடிமடிந் தன்ன குறும்பொறை மருங்கின்,
நட்ட போலும் நடாஅ நெடுங்கல்
அகலிடம் குயின்ற பல்பெயர் மண்ணி,
நறுவிரை மஞ்சள் ஈர்ம்புறம் பொலிய- Akam 269
***
My old articles
Hero Stone Worship in North India (Post No.4286)
Date:9 October 2017; Post No. 4286
***
HERO STONES ON SEA BATTLES (Post No.5163)
Date: 29 JUNE 2018
Post No. 5163
***
To be continued………………………
Tags- Hero stones, with Inscriptions,எழுத்துடை நடுகல், Tamil Encyclopedia, Part 20
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