Madurai: Director Karu Palaniappan has demanded the areas around Madurai, including the hills with Tamil inscriptions, should be declared a protected archaeological zone, like the deltic districts including Thanjavur which received the agricultural zone tag.
He was speaking to ETV Bharat on the sidelines of the release event of 'Tamilisoozh Mamadurai', a documentary on the oldest Tamil inscriptions, organised by 'Friends of Heritage Sites' (FOHS), at the LYCO Arena of Aravind Eye Hospital on Tuesday. The welcome address was presented by FOHS' Rama in the presence of paleographist Gandhirajan, writer Subbarao, archaeologist V Vedachalam, lawyer Vanchinathan, and FOHS president Sharmila Devadoss.
"Just as the deltic districts including Thanjavur were declared as protected agricultural zones, the areas surrounding Madurai, including the hills with Tamil scripts, should be declared as protected archaeological zones. This has been a long-standing demand of the people of Madurai, a place with mountains of Tamil writings that are more than two thousand years old. That is why this short film has been named 'Tamilisoozh Mamadurai'. The fact that the Tamils had a civilization with writing 2,500 years ago is a pride that no one else in India has. Therefore, preserving this is a priority. Bringing this information to everyone is more important. My congratulations to all those who have undertaken this effort," Palaniappan said.
"Tamil language is the identity of Tamils. The strength of the language is its writings. Although there are many languages in India, Tamil has the most ancient writing system, dating back 2,000 years. The Tamil writing system reached Egypt and Southeast Asian countries," Gandhirajan said.
He elaborated that Hoary Tamil inscriptions are found in over 30 caves in the state on rocks, palm leaves, pots and coins, which are in dire need of documentation. Especially, the scripts are found in 15 hills around Madurai and the city itself is surrounded by these inscriptions. This inscription was discovered by British historian Robert Sewell in 1882.
"Therefore, we have started documenting it from the Mangulam Meenakshipuram Hill where it was first discovered. Even after 140 years, it is still not known to the people of Madurai. As a result, these caves are being destroyed for mining. Therefore, we have created this documentary to spread awareness among the people for its conservation," he said.
"In an environment where myths are being turned into history today, this initiative aims to take real, evidence-based archaeological history to the coming generation. It is in this effort that we are embarking on a journey along with researchers and experts from the field," Devadoss said.
"The documentary is a good opportunity to disseminate information on the Mangulam Meenakshipuram inscription. We see this as a step towards protecting each of these hills. This initiative will continue to systematically compile and document everything that exists today in 15 hills and shrines around Madurai, especially the numerous hills that can be called Yaparungalakarigaill. It will also be an opportunity to showcase the culture of the Tamils to future generations. The Government Museum will encourage this initiative from the background," Dr M Maruthu Pandian, curator of Madurai Government Museum, said.
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