Udupi: A Hero Stone dating back to the Vijayanagar period (16th century) has been discovered at a village in Bynduru Taluk of Udupi district.
“The hero stone was found at the edge of ‘Kambala Gadde,’ where the annual buffalo race is conducted by the Hegde family of Teggarse. Our students took it very carefully. It has some interesting details,” Prof. T. Murugeshi, associate professor of Ancient History and archaeology, MSRS college, Shirva who deciphered the hero stone told Deccan Chronicle.
“The stone has four panels with four persons each. Of the four two are Heroes and two are their supporters. In the lowest panel, two Heroes are seen facing each other with swords and round shields. In the second panel both the heroes hold their swords upright with round shields. In the third panel too the two are depicted facing each other. On the top panel, the deceased person is shown standing before Linga and seated bull,” Prof Murugeshi explains.
There is some writing in Kannada below the top panel but it is illegible.
Usually, Hero Stone is erected in memory of a Hero who died during a war, Prof Murugeshi feels this stone is something different.
“In all four panels, the deceased hero is shown with the same headgear and same facial expression on the right side. But, in three panels that depict fighting his opponent are different and they are wearing different headgear. This indicates that the deceased hero fought with three different persons,” Prof Murugeshi said.
“This does not seem to be a war. It must be a sword fight competition. Centuries ago such competitions were common and this could be an inscription mentioning about one such event,” he added.
Based on the writing style in the inscription, Murugeshi has concluded it to be dating back to the Vijayanagara era.
