ThePudukottai archaeology researchforum, during a field study conducted nearPonnamaravathitown in Pudukottai district, has discovered 10 memorial pillars erected for the members of aTamil merchant guildthat served during the period of Rajendra Chola I and Kulottunga Chola I. Epigraphists said that the multiple memorial pillars with inscriptions stating name of the emperors signify the prominence ofmerchant guilds, members and the warriors, who were protecting the group during the Chola dynasty.
Out of the 10 pillars discovered on the banks of the Konnaipatti tank near Ponnamaravathi, inscriptions only on nine pillars were readable. The pillars have a varying height of five to seven feet and the base is square in shape. According to the inscriptions, the 10 members of a Tamil merchant guild seem to have died due to unspecified reasons in different years, so the memorial stones were said to be different to the hero stones. The inscription mentions the name of Rajendra Chola I, epigraphists said. One of the merchants for whom apillarwas raised, identified him as Gangaikonda Chola Setti, presumably named in the honour of Rajendra Chola addressed as Gangaikondan. Other names in the stone pillars include Kundran, Saththan, Marudhan Setti, Poolankulathan, Mummudi Chola Sithilatti and Sirappan.