BALLARI: The Archeological Department, which was clearing encroachments at Hampi’s Virupaksha temple, has found a ‘pushkarni,’ a sacred pond, on the temple premises. This finding is likely to lead to discovery of 19 more such sacred water ponds, claimed Vedic scholars. The encroachment clearance drive is taken up at Hampi’s ‘living temple’ (which is still being worshipped) amid much opposition from locals and politicians, and bureaucratic hurdles, and the Archeological Survey of India has been able to retrieve the “lost” pushkarni.
“When we removed the encroachments, we found an engraving as ‘Prabha Theertha’ on the stones and started excavating. We found a step and finally it led to this finding,” K Moortheshwari, superintending archaeologist at Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) told The New Indian Express.
The Prabha Threetha has now become a much talked about discovery. People are flocking to the area to have a glimpse of it. “The richly carved ‘Prabha Theertha’ has a water inlet through the mouth of ‘Nandi’ (deity Shiva’s mount) is much debated by experts, historians and even the Vedic scholars, who believe that more such findings will crop up.