Sister duo build fictional stories from inscription stones dating back to Karnataka's Ganga dynasty

They have spent hours thinking of story plot points based on inscriptions found on 750CE Hebbal-Kittayya.

By Apoorva Puranik, ET Bureau | Updated: Apr 30, 2019, 10.17 AM IST

Chitra Ramachandran and Vidya Murali (first and second from left)

BENGALURU: As gadgets and visits to malls take up the place of grandma’s stories for children, septuagenarian sisters Chitra Ramachandran and Vidya Murali are making sure the art of story-telling doesn’t die out.

The tech-friendly duo has co-authored several children’s books in Kannada over the years, full of illustrations and tales of heroism. The story-telling has now taken the form of a blog – Girgitlay (merrygo-round) — thanks to the insistence of their children and nephews — with stories inspired by the inscription stones of Bengaluru. Over the last few months, the sisters have spent hours thinking of plot points, settings and a perfect ending for a children’s story, based on inscriptions found on the 750CE Hebbal-Kittayya inscription stone discovered last year in Hebbal.

A civic activism project, Inscription Stones of Bangalore, started by engineer-turned-historian Udaya Kumar, has unearthed 30 inscription stones in and around Bengaluru over the last few years. The group aims to raise awareness and protect these ancient relics of history. The Hebbal-Kittayya inscription dates back to the Ganga dynasty in Karnataka and mentions the administration of Sripurusha, who ruled between 730 AD and 770 AD. Carved in early Kannada script, it pays tribute to Kittayya, who was martyred defending his land in a battle during Sripurusha’s reign.

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While that was the extent of the description of Kittiyya on the stone, the story-teller in Ramachandran wanted to know and tell more. Armed with the few lines carved on the rock, the sisters built a fictional story around Kittayya and his heroics. “Story-writing is a great learning process. Those five lines on the stone got our imagination running and I started penning down a story in easy Kannada, while my sister drew beautiful illustrations to make it more interesting,” Ramachandran said.

This is the first of four stories the sisters have written on the blog so far, Udaya Kumar, who has been actively promoting the blog on the group’s social media page, said. Other stories include those inspired by the 1043 CE Pattandur lake inscription and the 1431 CE Kodigehalli inscription. The latest story is called ‘Master of the Mustachioed’, inspired by the 1342CE Jakkur and Ganigarahalli inscriptions.

“For the Pattandur lake inscription story, we based it on a grandmother who insists there’s a stone near the lake. It goes on to teach children about conservation and adventure too,” Ramachandran said.

The blog now also has an English translation of the stories.

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