Abandoned 9th century sculpture moved to Vellore museum

VELLORE: Nine years after a 9th century Mahavira sculpture was found in a water body in Avarakkarai village near Walajapet, the district administration shifted it to the Government Vellore Museum inside the Vellore Fort recently.
The museum's curator K Saravanan said the basrelief granite sculpture is 110cm tall and 70cm wide.Two chamdaris (fan bearers) found on either side of Mahavir are in a sitting posture.
“We found the sculpture in 2007 when we went to Avaarankkarai village. We found a granary and the Mahavira sculpture near a water body in the village. Though the villagers did not oppose the staff taking the granary to the museum, they were against the shifting of the sculpture. So we brought the granary to the museum,“ Saravanan told TOI.
The villagers told officials that they would construct a temple and worship the sculpture. But it was left to ruin. “I had submit ted a petition to the district collector (S A Raman) raising the issue and elaborated that the sculpture was more than 1,200 years old and historically significant,“ he said.
Acting on the letter of the curator, collector S A Raman asked him to study the situation and submit a report.
The sculpture was found half-buried near the water body on the outskirts of the village and left unattended all these years, said the curator, who submitted a report.
Following this, the collector directed the Walajapet tahsildar to recover the sculpture from the village and hand it over to the museum.
“Revenue officials shifted the sculpture to the museum on Friday. They have also brought a few broken pieces of granary from the spot. From the findings, it is evident that Jainism flourished in these parts of the state in the 9th and 10th centuries. Several historical pieces of evidence have been found in and around Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts,“ he said.