Warangal: A 500-year-old one-foot rare idol of the deity Chamundi Devi was identified by historian R. Rathnakar Reddy at Ibrahimpur of Raghunathpally mandal in Jangaon district on Thursday.
The idol was initially discovered by workers of an employment guarantee scheme around a week ago at Pedda Cheruvu in Ibrahimpur, near the upper side of Lakshmi Thanda.
Upon apprising officials about the discovery of the statue, Reddy was summoned to examine it. The historian identified it as an idol of Chamundi Devi, as the deity was holding a ‘trishula (trident)’, ‘damarukam’, ‘panapatra’ and was seated on a lion.
Reddy said that there are some ‘rasaki gullu’ or ‘Megalithic burials’ set up by primitive men of the Bruhad Sheela Yugam (around 1500 BC), when Anantha Rai Gutta served as the headquarters of the region. Earlier, a statue of a beheaded devotee was found in the village, Reddy said.
The historian said that the findings were evidence of an organised civilisation existing in the region in prehistoric times. He said that a heritage museum must be set up in Jangaon district to showcase such rare idols and statues to future generations.
Village sarpanch Doragalla Ilamma, tehsildar Anwar and Rythu Bandhu committee member of Raghunathpally mandal Yadagiri assured to take measures for safeguarding the idol.
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