14th century Narasimha temple found

Magh Krushna Dwadashi, Kaliyug Varsha 5111

14th century Narasimha Swamy temple found at the foothill of Kondaveedu Fort in Guntur district

Guntur (Andhra Pradesh): A Vaishnavaite temple of Narasimhaswamy was found on Sunday by Puttakota villagers in the valley close to Mahadwaram of cantonment of erstwhile Reddi kings of Kondaveedu.

While the main deity is missing, the architecture of the temple suggests it was one of those from the early days of Reddi kings (1325 AD) establishing their capital at Kondaveedu and lived at the foothill and built some Vaishnavaite and Shaivaite temples for their religious purposes. This is one of the many such temples (about 15 of them) in and around the cantonment built by the kings, who ruled from this place and stayed there for more than 100 years.

The village president K. Anka Rao who visited the spot along with Kondaveedu Development Committee convener K. Siva Reddy said that this temple was not visible all these days due to the thick growth of trees. A roofed temple, like some on the hill-top, it has Jaya, Vijaya statues buried about 10 feet below ground.

Variety of rocks

Statues of the Dwarapalaks found at the place have been kept securely at that place and the Department of State Archeology Assistant Director E. Sivanagi Reddy has been informed of the new found treasure and they would take further action to protect it. Built with red stone, it is believed to be red granite as written in the history books on Kondaveedu, while these range of hills forming part of Eastern Ghats, constitute Charnockites variety of rocks.

Charnockite suite or series are a group of igneous rocks, variably metamorphosed of wide distribution and great importance in India, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Africa. The name was given by Dr T. H. Holland from the fact that the tombstone of Job Charnock, the founder of Calcutta, is made of a block of this rock, said Professor of Geology in Hindu College A. Subrahmanyam.

A museum displaying the history and archeology of Reddi kings needs to be set up on top of the hill said, Mr. Subhrahmanyam and to attract academicians and researchers on geological aspects of the rock formations and earth in this region, a geological museum integrated into the proposed one would serve a good purpose, he added.

Source: The Hindu

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