HYDERABAD: A rare sculpture of a warrior riding a horse from the post-Kakatiyan period was found by a history enthusiast at Thumkunta village of Veepanagandla mandal in Wanaparthy district. Unlike the re-gular sculptures of war heroes whose sculptures are carved on a thick bed of granite or other stones, this is a full sc-ulpture which is rarely seen.
B Shyamsundar of Veepanagandla and his brother Chandrasekhar came across the three-feet-tall sculpture, along with the name of the warrior inscribed on the horse as ‘Vaddipalli Ganapayya’ in post-Kakatiyan Telugu script.
The warrior is seen mounted on a horse holding what appears to be a spear in his right hand, while holding the reins of the horse with the left. The head of the warrior is missing. The warrior could be seen wearing a dhoti, with ornaments around his neck.
S Haragopal, convener, Kotha Telangana Charithra Brundam, said that among the hundreds of warrior sculptures found in Telangana, this is unique. He said that this could have been of a warrior who was part of the Gopalpet Sansthan of Velama kings who had ruled parts of this region after the Kakatiyas.