VIJAYAWADA: A fresh inscription discovery at Kondaveedu Fort has added to the growing body of evidence about the Reddy dynasty’s temple patronage in AP.
Earlier on Sunday, members of the Kondaveedu Fort Development Committee, led by convener Kalli Sivareddy, climbed the tallest Rudrapada peak, in the Kondaveedu complex, to examine a broken pillar in front of a ruined Shiva temple.
The inscription fragment, written in Telugu characters, was documented and sent to the ASI for detailed study.
According to K Munirathnam Reddy, Director (Epigraphy), ASI, the inscription records a royal endowment of land or revenue rights—specifically four vrittis to bhattlu and two vrittis to Virupaksha Diksita.
Experts note that this practice of dividing donations into ‘vrittis’ was a hallmark of medieval Telugu polities.
Scholars believe the inscription adds valuable evidence to the temple economy, while also enriching the corpus of Telugu epigraphy. The Kondaveedu Fort Development Committee emphasised that such inscriptions remain scattered and undocumented across fort’s hills.
Convener Sivareddy urged the Archaeology Department to deploy a dedicated team to systematically copy and preserve these records, noting that in 2024 five unknown inscriptions were brought to light, including one from the reign of Pedakomati Vema Reddy.
Together, the latest find at Rudrapada peak and its paleographic dating to the 14th century underscore Kondaveedu’s importance as a religious, cultural, and administrative hub under the Reddy dynasty.