TRICHY: A stone inscription dating back to the 12th century AD, with a miniature version of goddess Mahishasuramardhini, has been found during an explorative study in Kailasanatha temple in Uttamasili, a remote village near Trichy A team from Dr M Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research stumbled upon the partially damaged inscription of Vikrama Chola and also discovered a land measure used to estimate wet and dry lands in Vijayanagar period.M Nalini, head of history department, Seethalakshmi Ramaswami College Trichy, said that it was rare to find such presentation of goddess Mahishasuramardhini in a temple. An icon of lord Narasimha in yohasana along with his consorts seated on a rectangular bench-like pedestal was found in the temple. "Vikrama Chola is the son of Kulottunga-I who had established Chalukya Chola dynasty in Tamil Nadu ," she said.R Kalaikkovan, director of M Rajamanikkanar Centre for Historical Research, said that the inscription was copied from the south base of the main shrine. A certain individual, whose name is lost in the record, had made a donation to the Sivabrahmanas of the temple, requesting them to light a special lamp with ghee at the shrine, he said. "Such lamp endowment inscriptions made during the reign of Vikrama Chola are found in abundance at temples in nearby villages," he said, adding that different types of lamps, such as perpetual, sandhi and special, were burnt to keep the temple alight day and night.R Akila, another member of the team, discovered a land measure at Kailasanathar Temple. It bears two plus marks with a distance of 1.64m between them.

Stay updated with all the Latest Trichy headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.