Idols from 10th, 11th centuries found in Wanaparthy district
Members of the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam have found idols dating to the 10th and 11th centuries CE at Patigadda in Sugur village of Pebbair, Wanaparthy district. Group member Byroju Chandrasekhar said one idol depicts a scholar in royal attire seated in Shiva Tantric yoga asana, holding a 'Ghantamu' (pen) in the right hand and a book in the left, identified as a Panditagallu. A rarer 15th-century sculpture shows a female Shaivite devotee engaged in self-immolation.
Source
Wanaparthy — news · read the original report ↗
Desk check · compared with the source
What the desk checked (4)
- Idols from the 10th and 11th centuries CE were found at Patigadda in Sugur village of Pebbair, Wanaparthy district. — Attributed to members of Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam; figure appears in source, no archaeological authority cited.
- One idol depicts a scholar in royal attire in Shiva Tantric yoga asana holding a 'Ghantamu' (pen) and a book, identified as a Panditagallu. — Direct quote attributed to group member Byroju Chandrasekhar speaking to TNIE.
- A separate 15th-century sculpture depicts a female Shaivite devotee engaged in self-immolation. — Attributed to Chandrasekhar; dating and interpretation are the speaker's, not externally verified in source.
- Similar female self-immolation sculptures were earlier identified in Kanchari Malyala village and canopies of Siddipet district. — Attributed to the same speaker as prior work by his history team; no documentation cited.
Analysts’ view opinion
This is primarily an archaeological story, but in Telangana historical heritage has long doubled as a political resource — the assertion of a distinct local past was central to the statehood movement's emotional appeal. The politically notable detail is that the find was made by a voluntary group, the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam, rather than by state machinery, which opens space for questions about the archaeology department's capacity, funding and protection efforts. In constituencies like Wanaparthy, local representatives can easily convert such finds into heritage-tourism and development demands.
- That a voluntary history group, not a government department, made the identification gives critics an opening to question conservation priorities and staffing.
- Heritage protection and tourism promotion are low-cost, high-visibility issues for a sitting MLA or aspiring challenger at the constituency level.
- Shaivite sculptures and a self-immolation depiction are the kind of material different parties can frame very differently within religious and cultural narratives.
- Finds like this feed the broader regional-identity narrative of Telangana possessing its own deep, distinct history.
- No party statement or government response appears in the story, so this has not yet become a political issue.
What to watch — Watch whether the archaeology department issues official verification and protection measures, and whether local representatives follow up with funding or tourism proposals.
The story establishes no political involvement, government response, official authentication or conservation commitment — the political implications here are possibilities, not reported facts.
Deep dive
Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-readyThe brief
Context
Members of the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam, a history research group, have reported the discovery of rock sculptures at Patigadda in Sugur village of Pebbair, Wanaparthy district, Telangana, near the Krishna River. One set of idols has been dated to the 10th and 11th centuries CE and identified as a "Panditagallu" — a memorial stone for a scholar, the counterpart of the "Veeragallu" memorial for heroes. A separate, rarer sculpture from the 15th century depicts a female Shaivite devotee engaged in self-immolation. The find was reported by group member Byroju Chandrasekhar to TNIE.
Key facts
- Idols dating to the 10th and 11th centuries CE were found at Patigadda in Sugur village of Pebbair, Wanaparthy district.
- The discovery was made by members of the Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam; group member Byroju Chandrasekhar spoke to TNIE.
- One idol shows a scholar in royal attire seated in Shiva Tantric yoga asana, holding a 'Ghantamu' (pen) in the right hand and a book in the left.
- This sculpture is identified as a Panditagallu — the scholars' equivalent of the Veeragallu erected for heroes — and differs from Panditagallu found earlier.
- A second, rarer sculpture from the 15th century depicts a female devotee of Shaivism engaging in self-immolation.
- The female figure sits in Padmasana with Anjali Mudra, with a crown of rudrakshas, rudrakshas on the shoulders and sceptres on the forearms.
- The half-naked female figure has cupped ears, loose hair falling on the shoulders and wears a Shivalinga on her head.
- Similar female self-immolation sculptures had earlier been identified by the team at Kanchari Malyala village and in the canopies of Siddipet district, but the Sugur sculpture differs from them.
Timeline
- 10th-11th centuries CEThe Panditagallu sculpture of a scholar in royal attire with pen and book is carved.
- 15th centuryThe sculpture of a female Shaivite devotee engaging in self-immolation is carved.
- Earlier (date not stated in the source)The history team identifies similar female self-immolation sculptures at Kanchari Malyala village and in the canopies of Siddipet district.
- 16 June 2024Report of the discovery at Patigadda, Sugur village, Pebbair, Wanaparthy district is published/updated.
Who has a stake
- Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam — The history group that discovered and interpreted the sculptures; its documentation adds to the record of Telangana's memorial stone traditions.
- Byroju Chandrasekhar, group member — Described and identified the sculptures as a Panditagallu and a female self-immolation figure to TNIE.
- Residents of Sugur village, Pebbair, Wanaparthy district — Custodians of the site at Patigadda where the idols were found; local heritage identity.
- Archaeology and heritage authorities — Protection, dating verification and conservation of the newly reported sculptures (specific action not stated in the source).
- Historians and students of medieval Deccan history — New material evidence on scholar memorials and Shaivite religious practices in the Krishna River belt.
Why it matters
Memorial sculptures such as the Panditagallu show that medieval Telangana society commemorated scholars with the same stone-memorial tradition used for warriors, offering rare evidence of how learning was honoured. The 15th-century figure of a woman self-immolating as a Shaivite devotee adds to a small, scattered corpus of such sculptures already noted at Kanchari Malyala and in Siddipet district, helping map regional religious practice. Such finds by citizen history groups underline how much undocumented heritage still lies in villages along the Krishna River.
UPSC angle
Prelims pointers
- Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam — history research group that reported idols of the 10th-11th centuries CE at Patigadda, Sugur village, Pebbair, Wanaparthy district.
- Panditagallu — memorial stone for a scholar; Veeragallu — memorial stone for a hero/warrior.
- The Panditagallu idol shows a scholar in Shiva Tantric yoga asana with a 'Ghantamu' (pen) and a book.
- A 15th-century sculpture of a female Shaivite devotee self-immolating was also found, seated in Padmasana with Anjali Mudra.
- Similar female self-immolation sculptures were earlier identified at Kanchari Malyala village and in canopies of Siddipet district.
- The site lies near the Krishna River in Wanaparthy district, Telangana.
Mains framing
The Sugur find in Wanaparthy district illustrates how memorial stone traditions serve as primary sources for reconstructing medieval Deccan social and religious history. A 10th-11th century CE Panditagallu depicting a scholar in royal attire, seated in Shiva Tantric yoga asana with a pen ('Ghantamu') and a book, indicates that intellectual attainment was publicly commemorated in stone, paralleling the better-known Veeragallu raised for heroes — evidence of the social prestige attached to learning alongside valour. The accompanying 15th-century sculpture of a female Shaivite devotee in Padmasana and Anjali Mudra, crowned with rudrakshas and a Shivalinga, depicted in self-immolation, points to intense devotional and ascetic practices among women within Shaivism, and it differs from comparable figures earlier recorded at Kanchari Malyala and in Siddipet district's canopies. That both discoveries came from a voluntary history group rather than an institutional survey highlights the role of citizen-led documentation in identifying unprotected heritage, and the corresponding need for systematic verification, dating, site protection and public interpretation so that such sculptures near the Krishna River are not lost before they are studied.
Key terms
- Panditagallu
- A memorial stone or sculpture erected for a scholar, described as the scholar's counterpart to the hero's Veeragallu.
- Veeragallu
- A hero stone — a memorial sculpture raised in honour of a warrior or hero.
- Ghantamu
- A pen (stylus), held in the right hand of the scholar figure in the Panditagallu sculpture.
- Padmasana and Anjali Mudra
- The cross-legged lotus seated posture and the folded-palms gesture in which the 15th-century female devotee is depicted.
- Kotha Telangana Charitra Brundam
- The history research group whose members discovered the sculptures at Patigadda, Sugur village, Pebbair.
- Rudraksha
- Beads associated with Shiva worship; the female figure wears a crown of rudrakshas and rudrakshas on her shoulders.
Practice questions
- What do memorial sculptures such as Veeragallu and Panditagallu reveal about the social values of medieval Deccan society? Discuss with reference to recent finds in Telangana.
- Discuss the role of non-governmental history and heritage groups in discovering and documenting unprotected archaeological remains in India. What safeguards should accompany such discoveries?
- The 15th-century Sugur sculpture depicts a female Shaivite devotee in self-immolation. Examine what such iconography suggests about women's participation in medieval devotional and ascetic traditions.
Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.