NELLORE: The Sri Nageswara Swamy temple dating back to 300 years, which was buried in the sand for almost eight decades now, has been unearthed by villagers of Perumallapadu of Chejarala mandal in Nellore district.
According to villagers, some locals identified small structures of the temple when they took up sand excavation recently. Youths and other villagers then contacted elders of the area and enquired about the temple.
Village elders told them that some decades back, the Penna river used to receive floods during the rainy season and the temple gradually got covered by sand dunes and vanished completely.
"Along with the Sri Nageswara Swamy temple, two other temples (Kotiteertham temple and Sangam Sivalayam in the district) were constructed at the same time. Sri Nageswara Swamy temple received pooja from devotees 300 years ago. The temple gradually got covered with sand and completely vanished. Now, some enthusiastic youngsters dug up the temple. We have plans to rebuild the temple to perform pooja. We have already contacted `Siddanthis' and with their advice, we will take a decision," Pothugunta Varaprasad of Perumallapadu village in Chejarla mandal said.
After the Nageswara Swamy temple was unearthed in Perumallapadu village, villagers from nearby areas have started visiting it.