12th-century Ganesha Idol Trapped in Tree at Nagarkurnool Temple
Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation, has also found an inscription broken into pieces dating back to 1167 CE issued by ‘Tondaya, son of Gokarna-2 of the Kanduru Chola lineage’
Hyderabad: A rare black granite Lord Ganesha sculpture of the 12th century CE is facing damage at Lingala in Nagarkurnool district, where a Trikuta temple is in ruins, and the sculpture is swallowed by the trunk of a tree.
Dr E. Sivanagi Reddy, archaeologist and CEO of Pleach India Foundation, has also found an inscription broken into pieces dating back to 1167 CE issued by ‘Tondaya, son of Gokarna-2 of the Kanduru Chola lineage’. Based on the inscription, the Lord Ganesha Idol is also dated to the 12th century, he added.
The inscription records the construction of a Trikuta temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva and Lord Surya and mentions that Lingala village donated to a temple at Somasila on the left bank of Krishna River. He appealed to the people in the village to save the historically valuable sculpture from further damage.
