GUNTUR: As many as four ancient Telugu inscriptions dating back to the 15th century were unearthed at Kondaveedu fort in Edlapadu village of Palnadu district on Saturday.
Kondaveedu fort development committee convenor Sivareddy, who was on the spot while renovation works were being taken place, found these four inscriptions engraved on the mandapam and sent the details to Archaeological Survey of India Director K Muniratnam Reddy. After deciphering the inscriptions, he said that one of these four inscriptions seems to record the construction of one mandapam among the four present on the hilltop and is dated to Saka year, Durmukhi month, su 11 Friday in 1416 CE.
The mandapam which has been in ruins for several years has 24 pillars. According to the inscription, the mandapam is called Ranga Mandapam and the inscription is written on the occasion of its inauguration in 1416 CE. The mention of Pedda Komati Vemareddy on the inscription matches to the historical facts that Kondaveedu fort was ruled by Vemareddy from 1402 CE to 1420 CE. The other three inscriptions are not historically significant, he informed.
Kalli Sivareddy opined that finding these inscriptions proves that Kondaveedu fort is a treasure of history. “There is still a vast area of 4-5 kilometres on the hilltop and temple which are yet to be explored. If the Archaeology department inspects the area and conducts close inspections, they might find much more historically significant artefacts explaining about the fort and the kings who ruled the area,” he added.