Feature Image: Representational Image
Copper coins dating back to the Chola period, believed to be at least 1,000 years old, have been found on an agricultural land near the town of Manachanallur in Trichy district. Antiquities, including conch bracelets and spiral pieces, were also recovered from the site. Archaeologists have urged the state government and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to explore the site as it has been recovered near the surface.
Farmers plowing fields in Solakanallur village, 12 km from Manachanallur, found copper coins in their field. The locals informed Babu, a private college professor who had already tried to find ancient remains of the Chola period in the village in recent years.
According to the Times of India, Babu said, “Two coins found on the surface of the ground turned to ashes. On one side of the coin is engraved a statue of Rajaraja Chola standing. On the other side is a seated figure sitting on a throne.” These coins are 2.5 centimeters in diameter and weigh less than five grams.
Babu compared such coins with the copper coins in the Thanjavur and Trichy museums and tried to calculate their age. He also says that these coins may have been issued by Rajendra Chola in honor of his father.
Uraiyur in Trichy was where the Chola empire was founded and was the capital of the Cholas before Thanjavur. Many more antiquities can be found near Manachanallur if one were to survey the region, Babu says.
Babu further said that the coins have been sent to the Department of Archeology, Thanjavur Tamil University for further study.
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