HYDERABAD: While sculptures of war heroes have been found in many places across Telangana by historians and archaeologists, a new find by the members of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam has shed more light on some of these warriors.A temple constructed solely to offer prayers to the warriors in the medieval period, and the villagers still following the practice, can be seen at Kalvarala village of Weepanagandla mandal in Wanaparthy district.
According to B Chandrasekhar and Shyam Sunder, the explorers who found the temple built in the 14th or 15th Century AD still intact, two sculptures were found outside the temple and three inside.At the entrance of the temple, a sculpture shows the king wielding a sword in standing position and two women on either side holding fans.
Another sculpture beside it shows a warrior sitting on an elevated platform, with two angels ble-ssing him. This sculpture depicts the supreme sacrifice the warrior has made for his kingdom. Inside the temple, there are three sculptures with three warriors, with each warrior having a woman beside him.
According to the explorers, these sculptures are of the warriors, and their wives standing beside them explains that the women (Sati Sheela) had sacrificed their life after the death of their husbands, which was the practice of ‘Sati’ in those times.
KTCB convener S Haragopal said that based on the style of art, these sculptures were pro-bably carved between 14th and 15th centuries, and that such sculptures of Sati Sheelas we-re also found in Basara town of Nirmal districts recently by KTCB members.
Fact of the matter
The temple, built in the 14th or 15th century AD has two sculptures outside and 3 inside. These sculptures are of the warriors, and their wives standing beside them indicates that the women committed Sati