our history. Harshada Wirkud talks about the importance of these stone steles, and the stories they reveal.
Magnificent temples, mausoleums, palaces, and forts strewn across the country, tell us stories of India’s past that are otherwise accessible only through inscriptions, the exclusive purview of the literate. The corpus of free-standing memorial and record stones viz., the hero stones, sati-stones, gai-vaasru stones and the ass-curse steles (upright stone slabs, with or without inscriptions), on the other hand, stand as mute witnesses to a forgotten past, and have their own stories to tell.
These steles, issued largely from the fifth century CE onwards till about the 13th century, and in some cases till about the 18th century, are an important archaeological source of history of the medieval period. They bear testimonials from the past, which are sometimes puzzling, but often simple and straightforward.
What the hero stones reveal
Hero stones are so called because they were erected as commemoratives to honour the memory of a fallen hero, to the local populace as well as future generations who must remember the valour of the hero forever. These stones are found all over India, but are especially abundant in the southern region. They are locally known as viragals, natukals, paliyas, kirti or chhaya sthambhas or simply sthambhas, devalis, etc. Many ancient scriptures such as the Rigveda, and epics such as the Mahabharat state that the best kind of death a warrior could wish for is on the battlefield, a ‘veer-maran’ (heroic death) is his dharma. A warrior who dies heroically will be equated with Indra, and will attain the ultimate ‘loka’ i.e, svarga. (Sontheimer, 1982)
We have many variations of hero stones, but they are mainly divided on the basis of the presence or the absence of inscriptions. In Maharashtra, hero stones are mostly uninscribed; at the same time, those from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are mostly inscribed. These are then further divided on the basis of scene(s) of a war/battle/raid or skirmish, depicting how the hero died a heroic death. The scenes depict heroes who died during a cattle raid, battling with wild animals such as elephants or tigers, or fighting with swords, or in a wrestling duel. A hero stone from Borivali, Mumbai, depicts a naval battle. Some hero stones also depict a scene of religious suicide.
Hero stones are generally three-panelled, though sometimes they may also be four or five panelled. The lowermost panel depicts the fight scene. The next panel above depicts the death of the hero and his ascension to the heavens, while being flanked on either side by celestial maidens. The next and uppermost panel depicts the hero worshipping a Shivlinga, which represents his reaching Kailasa, reflecting perhaps the popular faith of the times. Sometimes, instead of a Shivlinga, a goddess or an ascetic may also be shown. At the top of the stele a crescent and a circle representing the moon and the sun, respectively, are shown, which denote perpetuity. However, sometimes this panel is not present or is broken, or is simply left incomplete. A kalasha in the form of either a temple spire or ceremonial pot is shown to represent sanctity. Some hero stones are quite elaborately and intricately carved, and may contain figures with lots of attendants, chauri or parasol bearers which may represent royalty, or a very important person who has died valiantly on the battle field.
The cult of hero stones has spread all over India, over a long period of time. Some scholars maintain that hero stones began to be erected from the third century BCE, and the practice continued till around early 18th century. However, a large concentration of hero stones was erected between the 5th and 12th centuries. We find a wide variety in the corpus of hero stones, artistically depicting royal as well as folk/tribal elements.
The sati stones
These stones were erected in the memory of a woman who immolates herself on her husband’s funeral pyre. The word ‘sati’ means a woman who is pure/ chaste. The practice and the name may be traced back to the mythological story of Shiva’s wife Sati, who immolates herself when her father insults her husband. Sati stones were erected for widows of fallen heroes/ warriors. The steles often have three panels. In the lowermost panel the woman is shown with her husband’s corpse. The middle panel shows her riding a horse or standing with her hands raised, as if bestowing blessings or sitting on a funeral pyre with her husband’s corpse placed on her lap. The last panel shows her reaching heaven. As in the hero stones, the top of the sati stone shows the sun and the moon and a kalasha. There’s a hand shown with bangles on the wrist, raised at a right angle in blessing, which divides the lower and middle panel. This is the most common marker to identify the stele as a sati-stone. It was so much in vogue that many of the steles do not have separate panels as described above but just one scene or a seated or standing couple with the bangled hand or simply an upraised palm. These steles are mostly devoid of inscriptions.
We also have composite hero-sati stones, wherein the hand at a right angle is depicted along with the usual panels of hero-stones. Sometimes the sati is shown holding her husband’s body, or is shown accompanying him to heaven.
The gai-vaasru steles
These steles are quite interesting and a great example of the symbolism that pervades Indian iconography. They are mostly considered grant stones as well as boundary markers, according to some scholars. The steles mostly show just two panels with one inset depicting a cow suckling a calf, and the topmost panel depicting the usual sun-moon-kalasha trio, or just the sun and the moon; sometimes broken, or simply left incomplete. Many a times, a manger or pot-like structure is shown in front of the cow near her mouth. According to Dr. V. V Mirashi the cow represents the grant given by the king, and the calf is his donee. It is also possible that the cow may represent the king, and the calf, the kingdom. The manger may represent the grant amount or the tax or some such revenue deemed necessary for the welfare of the kingdom, since the stele is sometimes depicted along with the ass-curse steles, described below.
The ass-curse steles
These unique steles, though an important part of the corpus of memorial stones, were largely ignored, unless inscribed, as they were considered obscene. It is only in the last few years, except for a lone attempt in 1990 by R.C. Dhere, that any serious academic study has been attempted to understand them. Ass-curse steles are invariably land grant or law edicts issued in the 10th-11th centuries onwards in Maharashtra. They were first issued by rulers of the Shilahara dynasty, and the practice was continued by the Yadavas, the Vijayanagar Sangamas, as well as the
Bahamani and Adil Shahi regimes.
The ass-curse stones bear a land grant inscription and a sculptural panel (perhaps for the benefit of the illiterate) depicting the ass-curse, the latter being directed at anybody who flouts the royal decree. The ass curse serves as a warning against defiance or dishonouring of the grant detailed in the inscription. The curse is almost always in Marathi and states maaye gadhave zhavije which translates to ‘A donkey will be made to sexually violate your mother.’
The steles are generally structured as three vertical panels. The top-most panel depicts the sun and moon as well as the kalasha, an ascetic or a Shivlinga or some other deity. The panel below it is inscribed with the details of the grant or the law/ edict, along with the boon lines as well as curse lines. The last panel at the bottom graphically depicts the curse described in the inscription by showing a donkey in sexual congress with a woman.
The persistence of the neatly defined typology of these steles is probably second only to that of religious iconography. Variations in the form of the steles appear over time. However, these steles probably became such a common phenomenon that in their later avatars they are devoid of any inscription but depict only the graphic panel, thus acquiring the function of signages. Sometimes we also find the depiction of gai-vaasru in an inset along with the ass-curse. Perhaps it seeks to suggest that a king may be benevolent at one time, and malevolent at another. These steles, with the graphic portrayal of the ass curse, became the popular mode of public discourse across the country and hence the entire corpus merits greater scholarly attention for the valuable insights it may provide into the socio-economic life of mediaeval times.
[/column][column size=”4/5″]
Harshada Wirkud
Harshada Wirkud is an archaeologist and a research scholar pursuing her PhD on ‘Gadhegals from Maharshtra’ from DCPGRI, Pune. She has been working on ass-curse steles since 2012, and has also been part of various explorations, excavations and projects. She has presented papers at national and international conferences/seminars, and has published many articles on the subject.[/column]