The Worship of the Hero stone in the Purananuru

Abstract

Purananooru is a very good book that tells the life of the ancient Tamils. It is a book that explains the valour, generosity, education, warfare, diet, excellence, hospitality and friendship of the ancient Tamils. Moreover, the book contains a lot of songs that express the valour of the ancient Tamils. The Purananooru hymns indicate that there was a custom of erecting 'Nadukal' to commemorate the sacrifices of the soldiers who were martyred during such a war. This article describes the way in which the spirits of the martyrs were offered flowers, peacocks, and food grains because they believed that they would remain in the tomb or in the middle stone. The incident of dying despite fasting and facing north has been pointed out and the incident of setting the middle stone for those who died is also mentioned. There are many types of stones in the middle stones such as veerakal, satikal, pattavan kal, Puli, Kuttikal, Nava Kandam, Ayutha Kal, etc. Animals like tiger, lion, leopard, etc., will block the way when they stop those who are smuggling goats and cows and bring them through the forest. It has been customary to plant a stone on the spot and worship the hero who dies while fighting with them. The researchers refer to it as a tiger stick. Similarly, there are many varieties such as pig-, horse-drawn stones, elephant-fighting stones, etc. Our forefathers had the habit of worshipping in this way by erecting a stone. It is also a continuation of the fact that we are now erecting tombs for the dead.