HYDERABAD: Three history enthusiasts stumbled upon two rare Jain sculptures, dating back to the Kalyana Chalukyan period in the 10th century, at Nagapuri village in Cheryal mandal of Siddipet district, on Tuesday. The village is a kilometre away from the Kondapochamma Reservoir. The sculptures were found in a damaged condition on a hillock. The enthusiasts — Kiran, Karunakar and Mahesh — are part of the ‘Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam’ group.
They contacted archaeologist and Buddhist studies expert Dr E Sivanagi Reddy, who later visited the site. One of the sculptures is of the 24th Tirthankara Vardhamana Mahavira seated in a posture of meditation and the other one is a square slab-like pillar (Choumukh) with a Teerthankara carved on each of the four sides of the pillar.
The Mahavira’s sculpture, measuring 4.5 feet in height, was missing its head, whereas the Choumukh, which was 2.5- foot high and 1.5-foot wide, was broken at the bottom. Sivanagi Reddy also found a brick-wall from the same period.
The archaeologist told Express that the village, which was known for worshipping Kondapochamma, a local deity of the late medieval period, used to be a Jain centre around 1,000 years ago, and flourished along with Komuravelli, another known Jain centres of those times. The team of history enthusiasts explained the village Sarpanch about the archaeological significance of the sculptures. They suggested to erect the sculptures on pedestals with proper labels and to safeguard them.