Context: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday released two books titled, ‘Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu: Worship, Tradition and Custom’ and ‘Forts of Tamil Nadu: A Walk-Through’.
Folk Deities of Tamil Nadu- Worship, Tradition and Custom
- The book on folk deities, focuses on the innumerable folk deities of Tamil Nadu.
- Some of these have a pan-regional appeal, while others are worshipped in a particular area or by certain communities and families.
- Tamil society worshipped heroes who laid down their lives for a common cause. ‘Nadu Kal’ (hero stones ) were erected to honour those heroes.
- Madurai Veeran, Kaathavarayan, and Muthupattan were raised to the status of deities for questioning existing norms of society and achieved martyrdom.
About Hero Stones:
- A hero stone (Veeragallu in Kannada and Nadukal in Tamil) is a memorial commemorating the honourable death of a hero.
- Creating hero stones had been prevalent since the Sangam period dating back 2600 years, and continuing until the Nayaka and post-Nayaka period to about 19th century.
- A vast majority were erected between the 4th century BCE to 13th centuries CE in Tamil Nadu.
- The earliest and oldest of such memorial hero stones is found in Tamil Nadu. These hero stones are more than 2400 years old, i.e., 4th century BCE.
- A hero stone dating to the 8th century Pandya kingdom, with a Tamil inscription in the Vatteluttu script was discovered in Tamil Nadu.
- Usually they are in the form of a stone monument and may have an inscription at the bottom with a narrative of the battle.
- Literary works of ancient Tamil Nadu like the Tolkappiyam, Ahananuru, Purananuru, Malaipadukadam and Pattinappalai, specifically describe the hero stones which were planted in honour of men who performed some daring acts to protect their community or village.
- The four primitive hero-stones with Tamil Brahmi inscriptions, dated to third to second centuries BCE found in the upper part of the Vaigai valley, support the authenticity of the hero stone tradition described in the Sangam Tamil literature in the context of cattle raids.
Forts of Tamil Nadu-A Walk Through:
- The book documents the past glory of several forts in Tamil Nadu through essays.
- Many such structures have existed in the State for centuries.
- These forts have been the site of political discourse, military prowess, foreign diplomacy and global trade.
- The book features forts such as, St. George in Chennai, Gingee, Vellore, Dindigul etc.