VIJAYAWADA: A team of archeologists and historians on Monday identified a 600-year-old brick temple in Kothur in the outskirts of Vijayawada city.
The brick temple with an ardhamandapa and choulty was constructed in 1,400 AD — 617 years back — by Kumaragiri Reddy of Kondaveeu dynasty. The team found an idol of Vasantharaya Narasimha and several inscription slabs with details of land donations to the temple at Kothur, Tadepalli, Koduru, Gollapudi, Velagaleru and Telaprolu.
The temple is located on a 200-feet-high hillock which is unsafe for trekking according to archeologists.
The team of five, consisting of both archaeologists and historians, had noted that the temple was threatened by the growth of huge trees with roots digging into the cracks and crevices of the historical temple.
Retired archaeologist P Siva Nagi Reddy, who led the team said a Dwarapala sculpture and a broken inscription slab were found in a dilapidated condition.
Other members on the team were K Rama Krishna, Golla Narayana Rao, Gumma Sambasiva Rao and Venna Vallabha Rao.