Moodabidire: On the right side of the Itala Sri Somanatheshwara temple in Daregudde of the taluk, a Tulu inscription on a rock called elephant stone by the locals was discovered by Prof. S.A. Krishnaiah, Director of Studies at the Oriental Collection Research Center, Udupi.
Krishnaiah said that Vedamurthy Sagri Gopalakrishna Samaga of Udupi has guided him to study this place. Due to the restoration of the temple, soil accumulated around this rock, and currently only 5 to 6 lines of illegible Tulu script are visible in this inscription and the rest of the lines are buried in the soil.
Krishnaiah said that additional study of this legislation will be done in the near future. Dr. Radhakrishna Bellur, Tulugiologist has done the preliminary study of the inscription. opined that the inscription belongs to the 12th-13th century on the basis of the script. Ravi Santosh Alva and local people have cooperated in the fieldwork research.
