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Treasure hunters ravage temples
Several heritage structures and ancient historical temples dating back to 16th century AD in the district with rich cultural and historical value, are being systematically defaced and vandalised by treasure hunters, due to lack of coordination between the departments of Endowments, Mines and Geology, Tourism and Archaeology.
Kadiri (Anantapur): Several heritage structures and ancient historical temples dating back to 16th century AD in the district with rich cultural and historical value, are being systematically defaced and vandalised by treasure hunters, due to lack of coordination between the departments of Endowments, Mines and Geology, Tourism and Archaeology.
About 200 treasure hunt teams both local and from neighbouring Karnataka are on the prowl for ancient treasure engaged in digging operations at secluded places with the help of sophisticated metal detectors, according to Archaeology and Museums department sources.
Some of them had reportedly benefited from such secret excavations and turned into multi-millionaires overnight. Late Kaleshwar Swamy of Penukonda was a major beneficiary of such a bonanza from treasure find nearly a decade ago. According to department sources, one person was killed six months ago in Penukonda, the hot seat of treasure hunt due to clashes among the treasure hunt teams. Vested interests are digging up historical temples in Penukonda hoping to find precious gold and silver articles of antique value.
Kadiri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple and Penna Ahobilam temples are glaring examples of tampering of ancient structures in the name of renovation by the departments of Endowments and Tourism. This practice has become a matter of concern for lovers and students of history and also to the Department of Archaeology which is the chief custodian of all ancient structures in the country.
Treasure hunters are the main culprits as they vandalise these structures, which are vulnerable as there is none to guard them. Archeology assistant director Lakshmi Devi says there are no funds to guard temples and structures and idols of antique value and unless the Central and State governments allot funds for the purpose, guarding these treasure troves will be a difficult proposition.
The State Department of Archaeology has no funds to appoint security staff for the protection of ancient structures. As per Andhra Pradesh Ancient Historical and Archaeological Monuments Protection Act 1960, all ancient temples and heritage sites had been declared protected monuments. No alterations, modifications or modernisation can be effected without the approval of Department of Archaeology.
Another problem is the tampering of original structures by government departments in the name of tourism promotion. The pristine beauty of Kadiri Lakshminarasimha Swamy temple dating back to 16th century of Vijayanagara kings has been tarnished. The ancient paintings on the temple ceilings had been effaced by frequent whitewashing of the ceiling. The original tiles have been replaced with modern marble tiles.
Sajjaganta Ranganatha Swamy temple too lost its ancient touch with the frequent lime coating of the walls, which led to the damage of ancient temple paintings. Alilurukona temple at Tadipatri belonging to 14th century too had been tampered with. The central architecture of the temple had been replaced by cement structures.
Assistant director of Archeology and Museums N.Lakshmi Devi told ‘The Hans India’ that renovation works had been in progress in a phased manner without tampering with the original character of the ancient architecture. Technical assistant of Museums Ram Subba Reddy during his chat with 'The Hans India' revealed that it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of many happenings at the field level due to the department functioning with skeletal staff and meagre financial resources.
Despite resources crunch, many works relating to protection and maintenance of temples had been taken up while several are at a proposal stage. The historical Vemana Yogi tomb at Katarupalle is a protected monument dating back to 16th century. The Department of Tourism had in the past modernised the tomb and the structures adjoining it. Law forbids construction activity within 100 metres of any historical structure but this basic norm was being thrown to the winds by government departments.
The original paintings relating to Ramayana and Mahabharata of Vijayanagara period at the temple in Gudipalle and Ranganatha Swamy temple in Somandepalle mandal had also suffered the vagaries of renovation.The list is endless with even the destruction of old ‘satras’ in Penna Ahobhilam temple. The Department of Archaeology in the district has 64 monuments which come under the Protection Act in Kurnool and Anantapur districts.
