Century-Old Bronze Bell Inscribed in Telugu Found at Vizianagaram Temple
The locality is believed to have derived its name “Dasannapeta” from him. The shrine is constructed in the traditional pidha style of Odisha temple architecture.
Visakhapatnam: A century-old bronze bell bearing a Telugu inscription has been found at the Srī Jagannatha Swamy Temple in Dasannapeta area of Vizianagaram city.
The Temple is a post-medieval shrine built in Kalinga architectural tradition during the 18th century. According to local folklore, the temple had been established by Jagannatha Dāsa, an Odia sevaka, who brought the deity (vigraha) from Odisha.
The locality is believed to have derived its name “Dasannapeta” from him. The shrine is constructed in the traditional pidha style of Odisha temple architecture.
“The inscription reveals that the chief of Gopālapuram Estate, a proprietary area administered by a branch of the Pusapati family during the British times, has donated the bell,” epigraphist Bishnu Mohan Adhikari told this correspondent.
The inscription states that Raja Upalapati Veṅkaṭa Vijaya Gopāla Raju dedicated the bell to the sannidhi of Śrī Jagannātha Svāmi of Dāsannapēṭa when his father Śrī Pusapati Cinna Veṅkaṭāpati Rāju attained the eternal heavenly abode (śāśvata svarllōka nivāsa siddhi).
According to Adhikari, the inscription is dated Śaka 1832, Māgha Śukla Pañcami, Saturday, corresponding to 1910 CE.
The discovery throws fresh light on the religious patronage extended by various branches of the Pusapati family. It highlights the existence of Jagannatha cult in the region and continued cultural connections between the Kalinga region and Vizianagaram.
The inscription has been documented by Pradeep Chakravarty, a historian from Chennai, and deciphered by Adhikari, an independent epigraphist working on Kalinga region inscriptions. He has so far deciphered more than 200 inscriptions.
