Chola period plates, icons unearthed

Over 85 copper plates and twelve bronze icons were found in the Kailasanathar temple in Kazhukanni Muttam in Tiruindalur village here on Thursday in a first-of-its-kind archaeological discovery in Tamil Nadu.

The copper plates — 45-cm long and 20-cm broad — were strung around a two-foot diameter copper ring and forged with the Chola emblem.

Earlier, 20 copper plates were found in Villupuram, says an official of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments. The emblem with two fishes fringed by a seated tiger to its left and a bow and arrow to its right and an umbrella indicated that the plates belonged to the Cholas