A beautiful sculpture of Vishnu in the form of Chennakesava was unearthed from the sand dunes in Mahabubnagar district.
This sculpture was found while removing sand as part of the construction of a check dam across a local stream called Vookachettuvagu located at a distance of half a kilometre towards the western side of Muchintal village in Chinna Chintalkunta mandal.
Devarkadra MLA A. Venkateswara Reddy passed on the information about the idol to archaelogist E. Sivanagireddy, who is the CEO of Pleach India Foundation, and the latter rushed to the site. He said that the idol, carved out of black granite stone, was found at a depth of 15 feet from the ground level.
“It is interesting to note that the idol was kept underneath a series of rosewood logs for safety when there was a political unrest soon after the last Kakatiya emperor Prataparudra was taken captive of war in 1323 AD. We have come to the conclusion after a thorough probe of some more Kakatiya sculptures found defaced near the local Siva temple, based on the style of art of the Chennakesava sculpture holding sankhu, chakra, padma and gada in his four hands and typical ornament. It dates back to the first quarter of the 14th century AD,” said Mr. Sivanagireddy.
After sensitising the villagers in the historical significance of the idol, Dr.Sivanagireddy appealed to the local community to preserve it for posterity by shifting it to the village.
