Of Hero Stones, Legends and Northern Forays

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What are Hero Stones? Where are they commonly seen?

Hero Stones, as the name indicates, were stones erected in memory of heroes. These heroes were usually ordinary village folks who were not part of a ruling elite. A common theme behind these stones were the celebration of a brave act such as fighting off wild animals or slaying bandits who were attacking a village. Stones were erected either by family members or by other villagers and were common from around 1000 BCE to the 17th century CE.

Did you know…
Hero Stones were known as ‘Veera Kallu’ in Kannada. The word Veera means brave, and Kallu means stone. While the earlier Hero Stones had some basic carvings and some inscriptions, later stones started becoming much more ornamental and elaborate.

Of the people, by the people

Commemorative stones marking individual bravery can be found throughout the country, but the density of such stones are highest in South India. In fact, Karnataka has the largest number of Hero Stones that have been discovered so far. Since the idea of erecting such stones was to share the pride that the villagers had about one of their own who had done something extraordinary, Hero Stones are usually found in places where people gather. Village water tanks and temples were prominent locations to erect such stones.

From Megaliths to Hero Stones

Usage of stones for representing an important event or commemorating a particular person – living or dead – had been practiced from a long time in South India, especially in the Tamil country.

Hero Stones were erected to celebrate acts of bravery

In contrast to the Saraswati-Indus civilization where organized towns had sprung up early on, South India had hunter-gatherer societies for a longer period. This hunter-gatherer society used to setup Megalithic stone structures to commemorate their dead. It is believed that this skill over time extended and transformed to erecting Hero Stones to celebrate bravery of living people.

Hero Stones in our Megacities

A common perception we have is that archaeological ‘ruins’ and Hero Stones would be seen in off beat places away from towns and cities. In reality, it is the other way around. Remember that Hero Stones were erected to celebrate acts of bravery – and brave acts such as protecting a village from attackers would have happened in places where there was a settled population. Over time such villages have grown into towns and megacities.

The Hero Stones though have faded away from everyone’s memory and, in many cases, been used by local population for their construction activities. Want to know of a megacity that has many Hero Stones and has an active group working on conserving them – Bengaluru! Watch this video to see restoration activities of a Hero Stone accidentally discovered in Bengaluru.

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Which South Indian king is credited with bringing material for Hero Stone from the Himalayas ?

The Chera king Senguttuvan, in the 2nd century CE, is credited with traveling to the Himalayas to procure a stone slab to make a Hero Stone in commemoration of Kannaki, the tragic heroine of the Sangam epic Silappatikaram. Senguttavan’s younger brother, Ilango Adigal, is widely believed to be the author of Silappatikaram.

This Himalayan project was easier said than done though.

The story goes that when Senguttuvan heard his brother narrate the story he was so moved with the tragedy that fell on Kannaki. The emotional king decided to commemorate her life and struggles through a Hero Stone. Up until then the Hero Stone was usually reserved for men. Such rules didn’t matter for the king though and with this being a royal project any piece of stone wouldn’t do. Senguttuvan decided that his dedication to Kannaki would be made with stone transported from the Himalayas.

Senguttuvan marches North

This Himalayan project was easier said than done though. The Himalayas were a few thousand kilometers away from the Chera kingdom, but that was not to deter Senguttuvan. He embarked on a diplomatic mission with his neighbors in the Kalinga country, and with their support moved further north to the Gangetic plains in Magadha. Senguttuvan explained what he was after and while Magadha and other kingdoms agreed to allow him free travel through their land, few others opposed. A few battles later, Senguttuvan’s army managed to reach the Himalayan foothills and as per the wishes of their master managed to retrieve back Himalayan stone to built the memorial for Kannaki.

Did you know…

While the military aspects of Senguttuvan’s travel to the Himalayas is interesting, what is more captivating is the spiritual sense of oneness that this country has had for ever. In the 2nd century CE, a Chera king from the Tamil country wishes to erect a Hero Stone for a heroine turned Goddess of a Tamil play. The king realizes the spiritual significance of this task and turns to the Himalayas to fetch the stone. Undoubtedly, between the Chera land and the Himalayas there would have been many quarries and sources of stones, but the spiritual importance of Himalayas resonated enough with a South Indian king more than 2000 kilometers away. If anybody needed an example of India being a spiritually united country from time immemorial, there could not be a better one than this.

It is believed that the Bhagavathi temple at Kodungallur, Kerala, is where Senguttuvan erected the Hero Stone in memory of Kannaki.

Cultural Super-highways

From ancient times, India has always been a spiritually united country. Ideas and thoughts spread from one part of the country to the farthest corners of the land. Senguttuvan wanting the sanctity of the Himalayas for his Hero Stone was not an accident, it was one in the long list of cultural exchange between the North and the South and between the East and the West.

How did people and ideas travel in those ancient days? How did Buddhism and Jainism arrive in the South? How did Central Asian horses reach Pataliputra? The cultural super highways of the past will be the topic of our next post.

Further Reading

The Rare Books Society of India has an online copy of the Silappadikaram translated by Ramachandra Dikshitar. The story itself is interesting, references to Senguttuvan and his journey to procure the Hero Stone is also interesting to read.

Did you know…

In historical records, Kondungallur is known by a different name – Muziris. Perhaps ancient India’s greatest port town, by the 1st century BCE, Muziris was the hub of international trade connecting the spice growing centers of South India to Persia, Middle East, Greece and Rome. From Muziris, ships would sail – within India – to the ports in Pandyan, Chola, Kalinga and Pala countries and from there to present day Malaysia, China and beyond.