An eighth century AD linear drawing depicting a fish chiselled on a sheetrock, was found at Srinivasapuram, a hamlet near Pondugula village in Dachepalli mandal of Guntur district on Saturday.
The vintage artefact was found during the explorations taken up by The Centre for Culture of Vijayawada and Amaravati (CCVA) under the scheme Preserve Heritage for Posterity.
Senior archaeologist Siva Nagi Reddy and his team discovered the centuries-old fish drawing on their way to the Jalapeswara temple at the village, eight km away from Piduguralla town.
“After a close examination, we found that the fish drawing, measuring 90x10 cm, belonged to the 8th century AD basing on an inscription found on a pillar of the Jalapeswara temple, built during the Eastern Chalukyan times (same century),” he said.
Buddhist site
Mr. Reddy also noticed ruins of two temples nearby, which, he said, needed immediate conservation. “Archaeological Survey of India should protect the fish sculpture and the ruined temples for posterity by clearing the debris and erecting signage with its historical significance,” he said.
He observed that the limestone pillars of a local Buddhist Vihara dating back to the 3rd century AD (Ikshwaku period) were used as the foundation for the Jalapeswara temple, which brought out the fact that Pondugula village was originally a Buddhist site.
Mr. Reddy, a trained sculptor, felt that the sculptors engaged in the construction of the Jalapeswara temple might had drawn a figure of a fish after which it was chiselled out as a pastime.
