Telangana Is Home To Early Stone Sculptures
Telangana has one of the earliest rock-carving traditions, with several sites identified across the state: Reports
HYDERABAD: Despite the general belief that the sculptural art was revived only in the Mauryan period, generally considered as the time between the years 321 and 185 in the before common era (BCE), recent studies of the stone anthropomorphic figures affiliated to the megalithic culture have revealed that the sculptural art was in vogue at least 500 years earlier, by at least 800 BCE in South India.
Telangana has one of the earliest rock-carving traditions, with several sites identified across the state. While sculpting in the Indian sub-continent is generally believed to have started during the Mauryan period, Telangana has evidence of an earlier tradition, said Prof. K.P. Rao, honorary professor, University of Hyderabad and visiting faculty, Nalanda University.
The largest concentration of the anthropomorphic statues is found at a site known locally as Rakshasi Mitta near Padugonigudem in the Khammam district, where more than 40 figures were identified and further exploration in the dense forest area was likely to yield more statues.
Prof. Rao said though these anthropomorphic sculptures have been known since 1868, so far there is no attempt to evaluate these sculptures in the context of the burial practices, religion and their chronology. Even some of the works on the religion of the megalithic people have failed to take proper note of these sculptures.
The statues measure 1.5 to 2.6 metres in height; so far, no statue with male anatomical features has come to light. Here, statues with prominent female features were noticed in good numbers. It has already been pointed out that these statues probably represent the earliest stone carving tradition in India.
“Though the Indus Valley examples are dated much earlier, we are not sure whether these statues were made locally, and the limited number of examples does not suggest any local tradition,” Prof. Rao said. “In this situation, we have to consider the megalithic anthropomorphic statues as the earliest sculptural representations, and the megalithic community deserves the credit for the initiation of this art tradition on Indian soil from the Telangana region.”
He said such statues had been identified in the regions of Warangal, Khammam, Kothagudem, Yellandu particularly around the Godavari region. Experts said these sites required further research and systematic exploration.
The sculptures are believed to date roughly between 1000 and 500 BCE.
The Indian sub-continent has one of the earliest stone carving traditions. The Indus valley stone sculptures are the earliest datable specimens going back to about 3000 BCE. But due to some unknown reasons, the sculptural art remained dormant for nearly 2,000 years or more.