An inscription of Srikrishnadevaraya’s regnal period has been found in a state of neglect at Bellamkondavaripalem village in Macharla mandal of Palnadu district.
Archaeologist and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pleach India Foundation, E. Sivanagireddy noticed the pathetic condition of the 506-year-old inscription in a shambles during his visit to the village on Sunday as part of the heritage awareness programme ‘Preserve Heritage for Posterity’.
The inscription was found lying amidst the debris and sunken into the ground concealing the bottom portion of the 23 line Telugu text.
Mr. Sivanagireddy briefed the villagers on the contents of it which records that a certain Sankanayani Baswanayudu was gifted Gundala and Malyala villages lying towards the south of Nagulavaram village in Nagarjunakonda sima (an administrative division of the empire) as ‘Nayankaram’ (towards his military services rendered to the Vijayanagara empire) by Saluva Timmarusu, the Prime Minister of Sri Krishnadevaraya.
Baswanayudu donated the revenue of the two villages and a ferry, facilitating easy crossing of the river Krishna to the Raghunatha temple of Gundala on June 10, 1516 AD (when Krishnadevaraya was ruling from Vijayanagara).
The inscription is important as it reveals many socio, political, economic and religious terms of the 16th century and is very useful for the research scholars, he points out. There are symbols of ‘sankham’, ‘chakram’, sun and moon on the top of the inscription revealing the Vaishnava affiliation of the donor, he adds.
He sensitised the villagers on the need to protect and preserve the historic inscription for posterity by shifting it to the local school or temple for safety and security.
