MADURAI: A 500-year-old Kannada inscription dating back to the 16th century AD was found at Silvarpatti near Periyakulam in Theni district.

K Bharathiraja, a BT Assistant teacher at Government Model Higher Secondary School, Silvarpatti, during his search, found the Kannada inscription in the cellar of a Vinayakar temple at Silvarpatti.

Based on the information, V Rajaguru, president of Ramanathapuram Archaeological Research Foundation along with ‘Noorsahipuram’ Sivakumar, a historian, Murugesa Pandian, Block Resource teacher and Rajapandi, History professor, SBK College, Aruppukottai inspected the inscription.

Rajaguru on Monday said there was a stone slab (3 feet high and 2.5 feet wide) in the cellar attached to the wall of the temple.

At the top of the slab, a Siva lingam, Sun and Moon were carved in lines. At the bottom, a Kannada inscription with four lines was found.

The inscription read out by Yesu Babu, an epigraphist in the Chennai division of the Archaeological Survey of India, said the script read ‘Sri Halapayya Gaudara Grama Velparara Patta’ and paleographically it dates back to the 16th century AD.

This signified the boundary stone of the village under the rule of Sri Halapayya Gauda during the Vijayanagara kingdom.