Royal coat of arms, copper plate gifted to Pudukottai museum
The Hindu
Artefacts were earlier stored in District Collectorate archives
Rare artefacts from the erstwhile royal family of Pudukottai presented to the city’s government museum on Wednesday threw the spotlight on the historical legacy of the region.
District Collector Kavitha Ramu handed over a wooden plaque bearing the coat of arms of the Thondaiman dynasty, and an inscribed copper plate to government museum curator T. Pakkirisamy, in the presence of K. Rajendran, president Pudukkottai Historical and Cultural Research Centre on Wednesday.
“These artefacts were in the safekeeping of the Pudukottai Collectorate, and are a valuable part of our regional heritage. The museum is the ideal place to showcase them to the public,” Ms. Ramu told The Hindu.
According to a press statement, the copper plate dates back to 1798, while the wooden plaque painted with the royal coat of arms in natural dyes may be 250 years old.
The copper plate has details about the gift of land made by then-ruler Vijayaraghunatha Thondaiman to Govinda Das, resident of Singatha Kurichi village for lighting the ‘Akhanda Deepam’ lamp in the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple in Srirangam.
“Copper plates were used to document important information related to the kingdom’s administration, besides palm leaf manuscripts and stone inscriptions. ,” said Mr. Pakkirisamy. “We hope to have both the art objects on display soon at the museum,” he added.