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| February 20, 2026 - Esalam |
On a recent tour, at Esalam, we met this genteleman.
In 1987 Rajendra Chola copper plates were discovered in this Ramanatheshvara temple in Esalam near Villupuram. Dr Nagaswamy head of TN archaeology department wanted to bring back these copper plates to Madras, to take estampages, read and decipher and publish the inscriptions on the copper plates. But the local villagers adamantly refused to let him take them away from the village
But they also realized the inscriptions were in Sanskrit and Tamil, and Tamil portion was in chola script, most of which was unreadable except by epigraphists
Dr Nagaswamy offered to read them out. A public meeting was arranged where he read out the inscriptions and translated the sanskrit portions and explained the tamil portions.
After this they realized he was a genuine scholar, and it is their village which would become famous if this information and the contents of the inscriptions was made public. So they allowed the archaeological team to take back the copper plates.
They also installed a commemorative plaque, in the temple gopuram, about the discovery of the copper plates.
The gentleman in the photo mentioned this and when I asked him if he was present at the discovery and during Nagaswamy's talk, he nodded and asked me if I was an associate of Mr Sridharan (who had accompanied Nagaswamy then). Uma Nagaswamy sent me this photo below of the 1987 public meeting, when I informed her of this experience.
History lives on in such small episodes.
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| 1987 Public meeting at Esalam |
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