The focus is back on Kotalingala, the only pre-historic Satavahana site located in Karimnagar district, which is a treasure trove of archaeological evidence to the early history of Andhra kings, before the well-documented Satavahana period.
With Telugu language, literature, culture and history in the limelight thanks to the World Telugu Conference -2017 (WTC) being organised by Telangana State government, can Kotalingala and its legacy be ignored any longer by the government, ask historians, archaeologists and numismatists.
The first excavations in Kotalingala were done about 40 years ago. The discovery of the coins of Pre-Satavahana and Satavahana period in 1978 was considered significant in the numismatics history of South India as for the first time it showed that the inscribed coins belonged to Gobada, the first Andhra king who ruled from Kotalingala and others, followed by Satavahana kings, says numismatist D. Raja Reddy. He is now preparing to give a detailed account of 200 coins with a history of 2,500 years to be exhibited in the LB Stadium during the WTC from December 15 to 19.
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S. Narayana Rao (77), who retired as the Chief Technical Officer in the Archaeology Department, conducted the excavations in 1981 and 82 after securing permission from the GoI in Kotalingala found the entire walled city. Several seals, coins, terracotta pottery were found as evidence of the pre-Satavahana period. However, even after four decades, the 120-acre site is not yet excavated fully, he regrets.
“The site identified for excavation was a private area and under cultivation. We offered compensation for the crop and completed the initial horizontal excavations. We had sent a proposal 20 years ago that the entire 120-acre site should be excavated in a phased manner and farmers be paid crop compensation till excavation was completed,” Mr. Narayana Rao says.
It is for the present Chief Minister and his government to speed up the process before backwaters of Yellamapally project submerge the area and the rich evidence is lost, he says.
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Dr. Raja Reddy said that the archaeologists and teams from Deccan College of Archaeology in Pune were interested in doing the excavation meticulously.
K.V.Ramanachary, Advisor, Culture, Telangana government says that as per archaeological evidence, Sri Mukha is the first ruler of Satavahana dynasty and Kotalingala is the first capital city of Satavahanas. “We are under the impression that Dhanyakatakam in Amaravati is the first capital city of Satavahanas as mentioned in the textbooks. Now that separate Telangana has been carved out, administrators, historians should bring these facts to light,” he says.
Archaeology Director Vishalakshi admitted that Kotalingala needed further excavation and proposals were sent to the Centre. The consent of private people also has to be taken, she says.
Mr. Narayanara Rao says excavations are best done during October-March. Mr. Rao is responsible for translocating 24 out of 44 temples under the Srisailam project over a period of 10 years from 1974. “We did our best during our time to push for the excavation of the entire 120-acre Kotalingala fort site. But after senior officials who were passionate about the archaeology project retired, Kotalingala fell into neglect,” he says.