17 apr 2013
Historic Rama temple cries for attention
Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India |
A Rama temple replete with history in this coastal village, covered by
sand dunes, will vanish from public view forever unless urgent steps are
taken to protect it.
Located some 100 to 150 metres from the sea tide level, only the temple tower is visible now.
The sleepy village is full of artefacts of both pre-historic and
historic periods throwing light on the rich culture of the Andhra
Pradesh people down the ages.
“The temple seems to belong to the period of Chalukyas or Telugu Cholas
and calls for a detailed study,” said State Archaeology and Museums
in-charge Director G.V. Ramakrishna Rao told The Hindu.
'Worthy of protection'
“The site is worthy of protection,” said Mr. Rao, who recently visited
the village to take stock of the condition of the State Archaeological
Museum, named after Andhra Pradesh’s first Chief Minister T. Prakasam
Pantulu in the village.
“I have instructed the Assistant Director [Museums] to send proposals and necessary information,” he added.
“The museum’s caretaker has been asked to liaise with local revenue
officials and get boundary and other particulars after perusing the
revenue records for us to go ahead with preparation of a historical
note,” explained Assistant Director [Museums] S. Bangaraiah.
“Once they are ready we will go ahead with preparation of a detailed
project report for consideration by a State-level committee,” he added.
Collection of artefacts
The museum in the village with a wonderful collection of stone
inscriptions in Prakrit and Brahmi and other artefacts would be expanded
and renovated to showcase the political, socio-economic and cultural
aspects of the life of Andhra people for several centuries, Mr. Rao
added.
Centre of Buddhism
The archaeological evidence found in and around Kanaparthi show that it
was a flourishing centre of Buddhism and also Jainism and could be put
on the international tourism circuit, felt social activist Komatla
Trinatha Reddy, national Gram Ratan awardee.
“The flat beach is an ideal one for sea bathing,” added the former MPTC member and Bharat Nirmal Volunteer.
The museum houses statues of Ganesh, Kumaraswamy, Narayani, Brahmini,
Surya, Parasurama, and Varahini, besides numerous Sivalingas of
different sizes and shapes, including a finely chiselled “Dhara
sivalinga,” with 32 dimensions. Non-indigenous stones were imported for
making attractive Sivalingas by expert sculptors at the Yelleswara
temple before exporting them to different destinations in south-east
Asian countries.
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