No mission to save Kakatiya era idol

No mission to save Kakatiya era idol
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Does Warangal, one among the 12 heritage cities in the country chosen for the holistic development, live up to its reputation with the kind of apathy the agencies concerned are showing to the ancient sculptures?

Warangal: Does Warangal, one among the 12 heritage cities in the country chosen for the holistic development, live up to its reputation with the kind of apathy the agencies concerned are showing to the ancient sculptures?

The ancient sculpture of an unidentified deity, which was recovered during the Mission Kakatiya works in Padmakshi gundam (pond) on Thursday is lying in the refuse even after the 24 hours of its appearance.

The partly broken sculpture resembling the architecture of the Kakatiya era (11th and 14th century) appeared from the debris and the silt accumulated over the decades soon after Minister for Irrigation T Harish Rao inaugurated the works of desiltation of the pond adjacent to Padmakshi temple hillock as part of Mission Kakatiya, aimed at reviving and restoring tanks in Telangana state.

Although the Padmakshi gundam has no ayacut and only used for the nimajjanam (immersion) of Bathukammas, the administration took up desiltation works to replenish the groundwater levels in the region. Though the administration is aware of the fact that Padmakshi temple and its gundam believed to have built in 12th century and there is every possibility of finding artefacts of the Kakatiya dynasty,

the authorities did not coordinate with the revenue, endowments and archaeological departments before launching the desiltation works. Speaking to The Hans India, the State Archaeological Department In-charge Assistant Director B Ganga Devi said: “We have no information about the sculpture. The Padmakshi temple and its pond do not come under the ambit of the protected monuments; hence the State Archaeological wing was not aware of the ongoing works.”

Responding to the query, Endowments Department senior official and the Executive Officer of the Thousand Pillar temple V Rajender Rao said that Padmakshi temple is under the control of Archakas as it falls under C category temples that have a revenue of Rs 2 lakh or below per annum.

“Although the Mission Kakatiya programme is a gem of an initiative taken up by the government, the authorities would have informed about the works to the agencies concerned to take care of the artefacts if found any,” G Sriram Reddy, BJP leader, said.

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