HYDERABAD: Though there are no excavations being done by Heritage Telangana due to funds crunch, Kaleswaram irrigation work in Gollapalli mandal of Jagtial district has given the department a rare opportunity to explore, document and preserve the remains of medieval-era temple that was unearthed during excavations for a link canal at Devikonda hillock. A rare sculpture of a lifesize Kalabhairava, another sculpture and door frames all carved out of sandstone and believed to be from the times of Kalyani Chalukyan, Kakatiyan or Padmanayaka dynasty -- have surfaced, sending historians and archaeologists in Telangana into overdrive. J Anil Yadav, a youngster from Rangadamunipally village located just 2 km from the site informed Express about the discovery.
He said he wasn’t surprised at all. “Atop Devikonda hillock there is a wall fortification, arch-like structures and an ancient open well. There are statues of male and female deities in damaged condition and the villagers worship Devikonda Maisamma as their local deity,” Anil Yadav said. The most significant discovery of Anil Yadav are the chunks of iron, which archaeologists believe, may date back to the early Iron Age. According to Dr S Jaikishan, president of Public Research Institute for History, Archaeology and Heritage and an expert in Archaeometallurgy, the village could have been a major iron smelting site in ancient or medieval times. Dr Surya Kumar, historian, told Express that Telangana was a major exporter of iron implements to as far as Damascus even in the 7th Century AD, and it was also believed that Prophet Muhammad had used swords made of iron from this region.