RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: An ancient stone sculpture unearthed during excavation for a roadside drainage canal on the newly widened main road in Vemulawada town on December 26 has been identified as a Jain Panchaparamesthi Tirthankara sculpture, according to historians.
Historian and convenor of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam Ramoju Haragopal confirmed the identification after examining photographs of the sculpture shared by historian Sankepalli Nagendra Sharma. Haragopal said the depiction of five Jain Tirthankaras carved on a single stone slab is extremely rare.
Nagendra Sharma said Jainism and Shaivism flourished simultaneously during the Vemulawada Chalukya period and enjoyed equal royal patronage. The Vemulawada Chalukyas ruled with Vemulawada as their capital from CE 750 to 973. Later, the Kalyani Chalukyas ruled the region from CE 973 to 1160, followed by the rise of the Kakatiyas. Jainism continued to receive royal patronage in the Telangana and Karnataka regions even during the Kakatiya period.
He recalled that during the 1970–74 renovation of the Vemulawada temple, several Jain Tirthankara sculptures, including those in Kayotsarga posture and Jain chaityas, were shifted from the main temple premises to the adjoining Bhimeshwara Temple. The newly unearthed Jain stone sculpture slab has been preserved at the Venugopala Swamy Temple for the time being. A large number of locals visited the site to view the rare artefact and expressed amazement.