Mystery shrouds the source of gold ornaments being found by the local fisherfolk on a 500-metre stretch of coastline at Uppada in East Godavari district. The phenomenon, which has been happening for some years now mainly during cyclones, was noticed again during the recent Cyclone Nivar.
On November 27, a few local people rushed Mangala Dibba on the Uppada coast even as the cyclone was eroding the beach to try their luck and a few of them are learnt to have indeed struck it rich.
Surada Nageswara Rao, a fishermen community elder, told The Hindu, “There were many instances when gold pieces were found in the beach sand on the half kilometre stretch at the existing temple point in Uppada village. Local people throng the area in search of gold during every cyclone. They get very optimistic whenever huge tides remove the top layer of the sand.”
“Only gold ornaments are found and we do not have any clue about their source. The area is now protected by the geo-tube from sea erosion,” said Mr. Nageswara Rao.
Over the past two decades, nearly a four kilometre stretch suffered erosion on the Uppada coast, including the Matsya Lingeswara Swamy temple.
Another fisherman, Ummidi Govind, observed, “The gold ornaments being found in the beach sand might have been those lost by the devotees who took a holy dip in the sea earlier when the Matsya Linga temple existed.”
Thousands of devotees from across the Uppada coastal belt used to take a holy dip at the Matsya Linga temple until it was gobbled up by the tides.
However, there is no scientific explanation on the source of the gold being found.
