Every ancient stone in any interior village in Pudukottai, land of monuments, is a source of some vital information for him. He stares at the inscriptions available not only at the noted rock-cut temples but even re-visits tiny villages, not connected by transport facility, in an attempt at quenching his thirst for unravelling unrecorded mysteries of the ancient history even at the age of 68.
Karu. Rajendran, an epigraphist of Melapanaiyur near Tirumayam in Pudukottai district, shares with M. Balaganessin his experience about the importance of ancient inscriptions and the responsibility of academicians in motivating the youths, future custodians, to take to history and epigraphy as a study on the art of life of people of the past.
It was during a summer vacation when he, during his boyhood, made his maiden, but successful, attempt at deciphering a few words in an array of inscriptions at a nearby temple dedicated to Lord Gnanapatheeswarar in his native village Melapanaiyur near Tirumayam in Pudukottai district. He would not have then imagined that the inspiration he derived would make him what he is today. Propelled by an urge in him, he started visiting and re-visiting several temples in the distri ct to get to know more about inscriptions.
With the monuments located in interior villages, he had to ride his bicycle to reach certain spots.
Every stone gave him some key information, ranging from the name of the dynasty to system of administration and from maintenance of a temple through grants to the victory in wars.
Even after he developed his knowledge in deciphering the inscriptions, he was not complacent but expanded his efforts through the use of equipment such as `press' and a special ink to decipher certain complex inscriptions by seeking the assistance of epigraphists such as Rajagopal of Madurai and Y. Subburayalu of Tamil University, Thanjavur.
"I have been toiling hard for the past three decades, going around ancient monuments and temples mostly in Pudukottai district," he says adding that he had unearthed a little over 300 inscriptions. "The official manual `Inscriptions of Pudukkottai' brought out by the Samasthanam in 1920 had recorded 1,124 inscriptions," he says.
In his assessment, the inscriptions of early period mainly revolved around the achievements of a ruler or kingdom.
But, a new trend emerged during the eighth century A.D. indicating the ancient rulers' care for implementing long-term benefits with an eye on improving infrastructure and developing irrigational facility.
"An inscription on the Kavinadu tank in the district speaks volumes about the efforts of Varagunan - I. It is generally believed that the period between the third and the sixth century A.D. is a `black era' as not much inscriptions of this term are to be seen. "But, the unearthing of an inscription in Poolankurichi in the Sivaganga district proved the glory of Dravidian history; for, this inscription is historically as precious as those of the period of Ashoka, the Great," he says.
He has a collection of over 2,000 books on epigraphy and manuscripts.
Any book exhibition or tour of outstations provides him an opportunity to purchase books on epigraphy for the past two-and-a- half decades.
Mr. Karu Rajendran feels that epigraphy should be included as a compulsory component in school syllabi to motivate the students to study on ancient kingdoms.
Higher education in history is considered more as an asylum for students not securing the highest pass percentage in the qualifying Plus Two examination than as a matter of prospects. Motivation of students through modifications in school syllabi will change the trend, he says.
Otherwise, the posterity will lose their aptitude towards learning the past glory of our country, he warns.