The heroic dead of South India have been immortalized in the form of Hero Stones. These stones represent the memory of the sacrifice of the hero or heroin who gave life for the community. There are different types of circumstances in which a hero stone would be erected. Situations where the hero died in battle, during cattle raids, fighting a feline or sati, ritual suicide preformed by the widow of the hero are common depictions. Sometimes the hero stone would be inscribed with information pertaining to the ruler of the time, the year of rule, place, family affiliation and sometimes circumstance of death.
This webpage was created by Jacob Bach (Hero Stones), Julie Bryant (Women), and Josh Johansen (Samurai) for Museum Practicum (Bilinda Straight, Instructor)
Images for hero stones, unless otherwise noted, have been provided by Dr. Allen Zagarell, Archaeologists at Western Michigan University. More information about Dr. Zagarell and his research is available at his website http://homepages.wmich.edu/~zagarell/