Author: B Murali
Publication: The New Indian Express
Date: November 27, 2007
URL: http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEA20071126230538
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has
stumbled upon a gold mine of history. It has unearthed two ancient temples,
believed to be at least a thousand years old, on the premises of the Chandragiri
Fort 14 km from here.
It followed it up with digging out not one
or two but 250 artistically sculpted granite pillars near Srinivasa Mangapuram.
The temples are understandably in a bad shape.
Nonetheless, are quite interesting given that one is a Vaishnava temple and
the other a Shivaite one.
Though idols of the presiding deities were
missing in both, archaeologists were able to identify their nature by studying
the structures.
Vaishnava temples are structurally different
from Shivaite temples. The ASI also found a statue of Nandi near one temple.
The other big find was near Srinivasa Mangapuram.
Sources in the ASI say 250 exquisitely carved pillars, each at least 7 to
8 ft long and all laid out in an orderly fashion, were excavated at the temple.
Archaelogists believe they could have been
meant for a 'mandapam' either adjacent to the temple or midway between Srinivasa
Mangapuram and Srivari Mettu--the original second foot path from Chandragiri
to Tirumala.
The ASI has reported its findings to the Government
of India. These discoveries are the result of its patient efforts over a period
of one year.
The two temples found at the Chandragiri Fort
might be among the 52 temples said to have been built during the early years
of the Rayala Dynasty around the fort and the 'Durgam,' which runs up to several
kms around the fort, constructed by Ummadi Narasimha Yadava Raya in the 12th
century.
According to historians, Chandragiri was the
third capital of the Vijayanagara empire between 1584 AD and 1612 AD.
The two excavated temples were neatly brushed
and marked. Visitors are not being allowed to have a glimpse of these historical
shrines.
Adjacent to the temples, the ASI has also
found a well, with terrakota ring bunds.
