A rare inscription dating back to the Renati Chola era has been unearthed in a remote village of Kadapa district that has kindled interest among the fraternity of archaeology and history.
Found engraved on a dolomite slab and shale, which are part of a fragmentary pillar excavated from the fields of B. Sivanarayana Reddy, a farmer of Chinnadudyala village in Muddanur mandal recently, the inscription was first identified by Vasudeva Reddy, a student of M.A. History and Archaeology, Yogi Vemana University, who gave the details to his assistant professor Ramabrahmam Vellore.
Going by the language and characters, the inscription was written in archaic Telugu which was readable in 25 lines -- the first side with eleven lines and the remaining on the other side. It was assigned to the 8th Century A.D., when the region was under the rule of Chola Maharaja of Renadu.
"The inscription seems to throw light on the record of a gift of six Marttus (a measuring unit) of land gifted to a person Sidyamayu, one of the Brahmins serving the temple at Pidukula village,” Dr. Ramabrahmam told The Hindu . He had, in fact, contacted the Director of Epigraphy, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), Mysuru, for assistance in deciphering the content. The last lines are indicative of the priority given to morality in those days.
“It says the people who safeguards this inscription for future generations will acquire the status of conducting Aswamedha Yaga and those destroying it will incur sin equivalent to causing a death in Varanasi,” said Dr. Ramabrahmam. The inscription has been shifted from the spot to be preserved in the State Archaeological Museum at Mylavaram in Jammalamadugu mandal, in the vicinity of the famed Gandikota project.
Pat for department
Appreciating the department for the finding, YVU Vice-Chancellor Munagala Suryakalavathi sought proposals for a UGC project on ‘Explorations on unearthed inscriptions, sculpture and temples in Kadapa district' for further research in this region.
