A 12th Century stone idol of Lord Ganesh has been unearthed at a sleepy village of Motupalli in Prakasam district.
Giving details of the discovery, E. Sivanagi Reddy, archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation, said Siripudi Venkateswaralu discovered the idol while he was tilling his farm on Thursday.
People in and around the village rushed to have a glimpse of the idol unearthed on the eve of Vinayaka Chavithi.
The 800-year-old idol measuring three-foot six-inch in length, two-foot six-inch in breadth and one-foot six-inch in height is in a ‘Padmasana’ posture on a lotus pedestal. Two hands of the idol are broken. On one hand there is a ‘danta’ and on the other a ‘modaka’. The elephantine head is devoid of any headgear and wears all the ornaments, including a ‘Naga yagnopavita’ on the belly.
Based on the stylistic grounds and the Tamil inscriptions on the dilapidated Kodanda Ramaswamy temple recently, the indologist dates it to the 12th Century, during which period the area was ruled by the Cholas.
The idol was shifted to the Kodanda Ramaswamy temple in the once-flourishing port town by the Motupalli heritage society team comprising, among others, Pridhviraj and M. Balaji Kumar and the temple priest S Sai.
