HYDERABAD: Two temples, believed to be at least 1,300 years old, of the late Badami Chalukya period, have been spotted in Mudimanikyam village of Nalgonda district. A 8th/9th century CE inscription was discovered in one of them.
The two temples, situated on the way to the Krishna river, were noticed by a team of Dr MA Srinivasan and S Ashok Kumar of Public Research Institute of History, Archaeology and Heritage (PRIHAH).
The rediscovery of the temples are significant as they are Badami Chalukyan shrines that adopted the Kadamba nagara style in the Rekha nagara format, making them the only two of their kind in Telangana today. The team further noted that considering their age, they are not in a very dilapidated condition.
The inscription, which reads ‘Gandaloranru’, was found on a pillar of one of the five temples in the village. “Though the correct meaning of the label inscription is not clear yet, as the first two letters Ganda in Kannada means “hero”, this could be the title of a hero,” says Dr Munirathnam Reddy, Director of Epigraphy in the Archaeological Survey of India.
According to PRIHAH, as this inscription dates back to 8th or 9th century AD, the dating of this group of five temples - Panchakuta - can also be ascribed to the late Badami Chalukyan period.
Another inscription, believed to be 350-years-old, was found on two sides of a pillar in Rama temple of Mudimanikyam. However, only one side of the inscription is readable. According to Dr D Surya Kumar, an epigraphist and vice-president of PRIHAH, this inscription gives detailed information about donations to the Rama temple from places like Andhra Pradesh and Warangal.
PRIHAH observed that the Panchakuta temples are lying unattended. While one of the temples has just the panavattam in the sanctum sanctorum with the lingam missing, another temple has a Vishnu idol inside.
Calling it a historic village, PRIHAH demanded that the Department of Heritage and the people of the village should preserve the heritage.