GUNTUR: A 13th-century Telugu inscription engraved on the ceiling of a mandapa was found in the Kondaveedu fort in Yadlapadu mandal of Palnadu district. After deciphering the inscription, Archaeology Survey of India Director K Muniratnam Reddy said it contained the characters of the 13th century CE and dated to Plavanga year, Asvija month, su 10, Wednesday.
It seems to record the construction of Kalyana Mandapa by Mahamandaleshwar Apratihamalla Kumar Yadav Choda Maharaja belonging to the Kakatiya empire, who ruled Kondaveedu after the Reddy Kings.
The inscription was found by Kondaveedu Fort Development convenor Kalli Siva Reddy on Sunday evening.
Speaking to TNIE, Siva Reddy said the inscription was engraved on one of the two main pillars inside the Yogi Vemana Mandapam, which has 16 pillars with 24 foot width. Siva Reddy said writer Maddulapalli Guru Brahma Sarma, a local school teacher in his book ‘Kondaveeti Samrajya Grantham written in 1905, mentioned the mandapam, which was later turned into a forest bungalow.
“Albeit, I have been regularly visiting the Kondaveedu fort for the past 25 years, I couldn’t trace the inscription,” Siva Reddy said, adding, “The inscription was found engraved on top of the pillar surrounded by thick bushes in the dark while we were taking measurements of the pillars to carry out some repair works.”
“The inscription engraved on the pillar was used as a cross beam support between two pillars of the Yogi Vemana Mandapam, which was constructed in the 16th century by some Muslim rulers,” he explained.
He added that the Muslim rulers might have brought the stone inscription from a ruined site elsewhere to the place.