Hyderabad: A rare Varaha granite idol dating to the 11th century Chalukyan period was found in a ruined temple in Tandur in Vikarabad district.
Varaha is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu in the form of a boar and is the third in the Dasa-vatara, the 10 avatars of Vishnu.
The temple and idol were first sighted by locals when they ventured into a section of the ruined village in Govindaraopet near Yallala, 12 km from Tandur town. The village was once a centre of the handloom industry, which died out over time.
The white granite idol stands 3.25 feet tall and 2.6 feet wide. Some said it dated back to the Gupta period, well known for beautiful sculptures.
Mr P. Nagaraj, assistant director of archaeology, said the Bhu Varaha idol seemed to be from the 11th Century Chalukyan period and not the 4/5th Century Gupta period as was being believed.
“It’s one of the rarest and most beautiful idols found in this region. The idol is intact so are its features. There should be more idols since a temple exists,” he said.
Explaining the mythological belief behind the avatar, he said Vishnu, in a bid to rescue Goddess Bhudevi (Earth), from being taken away by demon Hiranyaksha hid her in the ocean and took the avatar of Varaha. He killed the demon and rescued Bhudevi.
The oldest Varaha temple, called Nav Toran temple, in the country was built in the 11th century in Jawad, Madhya Pradesh. There is one in Tirumala near Swami Pushkarni.
“We will take up study of this ancient idol and temple ruins. Idols in good shape will be shifted to a safe location,” Mr. Nagaraj said.
