Andhra Pradesh - Karimnagar   

Buddhist mud fort unearthed

Precious discovery: The four-faceted sculpture made of limestone unearthed in Koheda mandal of Karimnagar district.

KARIMNAGAR: Ancient and rare Buddhist mud fort and sculptures, besides Jain sculpture, four-faceted statue, pillar edicts and other relics of Buddhism, Jainism, Satavahana and Kakatiya dynasties were discovered on the Singaraya hillocks of Koheda mandal in Karimnagar district.

M. Radhakrishna of AP Social Welfare Residential Junior College, Koheda and Devarapu Ramesh of Zilla Parishad High School Koheda, who are writing a book on the history of ancient Singaraya Konda and the annual jatara of Koheda mandal, chanced upon the rare relics of pertaining to Buddhism and Satavahana period during their expedition to the hillocks recently.

The mud fort is stated to be dating back to Satavahana period and constructed with specially-made mud with a mixture of chemicals and dung of animals and elephants. The huge mud wall measuring 20 feet height and four feet width was constructed on a special platform and there is no basement. But, there were guard posts on the north east and southwest sides of the mud fort. Besides, there are terracotta potsherds, pot sheds, iron smelts, black and red ware pottery and grinding stones at the fort.

Greek traveller Megasthenes, in his Indica book ‘The Au-to-lo (Andhra)’ wrote that there were 30 fortified towns with a great army. Out of which only 20 such mud forts were discovered in the State. Similar sites were found in Koti Lingala, Pedda Bankoor and Dulikatta of Karimnagar district.

Radhakrishna and Ramesh have said that the Koheda mud fort may be one of the Megasthenes fortified town or middle age construction. They suggested an in-depth investigation into the fort and study its history to tell the future generation.

Adjacent to the mud fort, the teachers found the dismantled ‘Jaina Golaka’ (education centre of Jainism) with Jaina inscriptions, four-sided Jaina Mahavira sculpture with inscriptions and so on. On a rock slab, all the war scenes were carved.

Local folk stories tell that a kingdom existed along the Moya Thummeda rivulet, which connects Manair river and lastly Godavari river.

It is stated that during the ancient days the rivulet was a trade route for traders and businessmen of that days. The teachers suggested the need for the study of cultural importance of the mud fort.

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